Originally founded by Scandinavian conglomerate SAS Group as a hotel in 1960, it became a listed company in 2006.

In 2018, Radisson Hotel Group was re-sold to a consortium led by Jin Jiang International of China.

SAS Group, the flag carrier of Scandinavian countries, opened their first hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1960.

[8]: 379 Future President and chief executive officer (CEO) of SAS International Hotels, Kurt Ritter [de], joined the company as a junior manager in 1976.

[11][non-primary source needed] The subsidiary was known as SAS International Hotels until 2001.

[11][non-primary source needed] The agreement included Carlson acquired 25% shares of Rezidor SAS, as well as Rezidor SAS acquired the rights to use the Carlson-owned brands, such as Radisson SAS, Park Inn, Regent and Country Inns & Suites, in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets.

[11][non-primary source needed] Rezidor SAS, at that time known as SAS International Hotels, signed a similar agreement in 1994 (1995 according to the Financial Times[10] and Rezidor themselves[7]) with Radisson Hotels International, another subsidiary of Carlson Companies.

[13] However, six of the aforementioned hotels, except Cologne City-West, were converted to Mercure brand of AccorHotels in 2014.

[14] In 2005, Rezidor SAS opened four more Radisson hotels in the Republic of Ireland.

[26] In 2010, Carlson and Rezidor had already sold the brand Regent to Formosa International Hotels [zh].

[30][31] The takeover also triggered a mandatory bid for the remaining shares of the listed company.