AccorHotels said Wednesday that
it will FRHI Holdings, parent of the Fairmont, Swissotel and Raffles hotel brands, for about $2.9
billion.
Paris-based Accor is acquiring FRHI from Qatar
Investment Authority, Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company and Oxford
Properties.
The transaction, slated to
close by next June, will double Accor's number of luxury hotels. FHRI oversees
114 hotels (70 Fairmont, 32
Swissotel and 12 Raffles). FHRI has another 40 hotels in the
development phase.
Accor's luxury brand, Sofitel, has 111 hotels. The company has 99 hotels under the Pullman upper-upscale brand. Accor
has 3,800 properties worldwide, largely under the Ibis and Mercure economy
brands.
The acquisition “offers us
robust and global leadership in luxury hotels, a key segment in terms of
geographic reach, growth potential and profitability, for long term value
creation,” Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin said in a statement. “We
are positioning ourselves as a key player in the current industry consolidation
process while maintaining substantial leeway to implement our transformation
plan.”
Accor will pay about $2.1
billion in Accor stock and $840 million in cash. The company trades on
the Paris Stock Exchange.