AccorHotels is reportedly in 'advanced' talks to buy Swiss hotel chain Mövenpick Hotels, according to France's Le Figaro and Les Echo newspapers.
Reportedly, a major player in the deal is Kingdom Holding, Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s investment company, which has a 5.71% stake in AccorHotels. The company also owns 33.3% of Mövenpick's hotel business.
Mövenpick currently manages 20,000-plus rooms in more than 83 hotels across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
| Advertisement |
In 2016, AccorHotels announced its US $3.2 billion deal with FRHI to buy three luxury hotel brands, Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel. In December 2016, Banyan Tree Holdings and AccorHotels entered into a long term partnership to develop and manage Banyan Tree-branded hotels around the world.
Most recently, Accor purchased table reservation system ResDiary, Australia's Mantra Group and announced a stake in Mantis Group, a small luxury boutique hotel chain based in South Africa.
Update: It's now confirmed. AccorHotels will buy Movenpick Hotels & Resorts for US $566m.
A spokesperson for Accor declined to comment at the time. However Accor has since released an official statement and said: "This acquisition further consolidates the current footprint in Europe and in the Middle East and accelerates growth notably in key regions where the Group has been established for many years, such as Africa and Asia."
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. It should be completed during the second half of 2018.