Inter Ikea, the company that owns the intellectual property rights of Ikea - which were last week revealed to be valued at €9 billion by the company - is considering sites across Europe for what it calls “budget design” hotels.
The Financial Times says that the hotels will not use the Ikea name and will not be run by the Swedish company but by an established hotel operator, according to an executive familiar with the plans.
Ikea is also considering building student residences across the continent as it looks for ways to put its cash into long-term businesses in an attempt to earn a good return. Inter Ikea hopes to build the hotels in markets where it is already active in property, such as the UK, Netherlands and Poland, as well as new markets such as Germany.
No decision has been made as yet on whether or not Ireland will be considered for one of the hotels. Ikea has stores he in both Dublin and Belfast.
