Chinese Hotel IPO: 7 Days Group Holdings Limited (SVN, HMIN)

7 Days Group Holdings Limited is national economy hotel chain based in China, and it has just filed to come public via an Inital Public Offering.  No terms were disclosed other than it will sell up to $100 million in common stock via ADRs.  It plans to list its stock under the “SVN” ticker on the New York Stock Exchange with J.P. Morgan and Citigroup as the lead underwriters.

To many investors, this will sound  like the story of Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (NASDAQ: HMIN).

The company is an economy hotel chain based in China which converts and operates limited service economy hotels across major metropolitan areas in China under its “7 Days Inn” brand for value-conscious business and leisure travelers. The company noted that two important drivers of its business are its 7 Days Club and its eCommerce platform.  The company also says that it is the third largest economy hotel chain in China based on the total number of hotels as of December 31, 2008.  Furthermore, it said that it is the fastest growing among the top ten economy hotel chains in China in 2006, 2007 and 2008 based on the number of new hotels opened.

As of September 30, 2009, it had 283 hotels in operation.  Of those hotels, 48 were managed hotels with 28,266 hotel rooms in 41 cities, and an additional 77 hotels with 7,476 hotel rooms under conversion.  These hotels will cover 59 cities in China and the company noted that over eight million members have registered with the 7 Days Club.

Revenues have grown from grew from RMB54.9 million in 2006 to RMB721.4 million (US$105.7 million) in 2008; and revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were RMB830.8 million (US$121.7 million). During 2008 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2009, its net losses were RMB209.9 million (US$30.8 million) and RMB9.3 million (US$1.4 million), respectively.

For a comparison on the size, Home Inns & Hotels Management in China generated $257.922 million in 2008 revenues and 2008 net income applicable for holders of $14.838 million.

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JON C. OGG