Chinese economy hotel operator Home inns & Hotel Management Inc has announced the acquisition of regional economy chain eJia Express for US$9.4 million.

Under the deal, Home Inns will acquire 13 leased and operated hotels in Anhui Province with a total of 1284 rooms, including 9 hotels in the provincial capital of Hefei.

All 13 eJia Express hotels will be rebranded to Home Inns, significantly increasing the group's presence in Anhui.

Home Inns currently has 18 hotels in Anhui under its own brand, and another 14 hotels under the Motel 168 brand.

The average remaining lease term for the 13 acquired hotels is eight years.

"We are very excited about the completion of the eJia Express acquisition," said David Sun, chief executive of Home Inns.

"We expecte to quickly integrate these hotels into the Home Inns brand portfolio which includes more than 1100 hotels in China."