Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), formerly Bass PLC, was founded in 1777 by William Bass, when he established a brewery in the English town of Burton-on-Trent. The year 1876 was a landmark year for Bass, when it was recognized as the largest brewery in England. Even more notably, it was also this year that Bass’s red triangle trademark became the first trademark to be registered in England. During the 1960s, Bass made two strategic and significant mergers. In 1961, Bass merged with Mitchells & Butler, becoming Bass, Mitchells & Butler. In 1967, Bass, Mitchells & Butler merged with Charrington United Breweries to become Bass Charrington Ltd [30].
The year 1970 marked Bass’s entrance into the world of hospitality, as it purchased about 50 hotels from the oil giant Esso [31]. These hotel holdings became known as Crest Hotels. Renamed Bass PLC in the early 1980s, the company’s leisure subsidiaries, including its hotel division, “contributed substantially to Bass’s growth and profits” [32]. In 1988, Bass made the first significant international move into the hotel industry by acquiring the international assets of Holiday Corporation outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico for $ 475 million [33].
The year 1989 saw the advent of legislation on the brewing industry through Beer Orders. Through Beer Orders legislation, the government sought to limit the vertical integration within the brewing industry by limiting the number of pubs a brewer could own [34]. Bass’s response was to continue to focus on and develop its international hotel business. Therefore, on August 25, 1989, Bass made a monumental decision to purchase Holiday Corporation’s flagship Holiday Inn chain for $ 2.23 billion. Included in this purchase were 1,410 franchised Holiday Inns and 177 company-owned and - managed Holiday Inns [35].
Founded by Kemmons Wilson in 1952, Holiday Inn quickly grew into the largest lodging corporation in the world. A 1951 road trip