AccorHotels Completes $550M European Sale

By Bogdan Odagescu, Associate Editor

ibis Styles, an AccorHotels brand

Paris—Following last year’s $2.9 billion acquisition of the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel brands, AccorHotels Group continues its reconfiguration streak with the disposition of 85 European hotels in a $550 million transaction.

The buyer—newly created Grape Hospitality, will be spearheaded by Frederic Josenhans, former director of the Novotel and Mercure flags. Grape Hospitality is a hotel platform owned by Eurazeo (70 percent) and AccorHotels (30 percent).

As previously reported by Commercial Property Executive, the sale includes 85 owned and leased properties, mostly economy and mid-scale, out of which 61 are located in France. The rest are spread over the continent, in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria and Belgium. The portfolio includes one Pullman, 19 Novotel, 13 Mercure, 35 ibis, 3 ibis Styles and 14 ibis budget hotels.

As first announced in January, Accor sold the 28 hotels it owned plus all interests in the whole portfolio. The remaining properties—previously owned by Foncière des Régions, Axa IM – Real Assets and Invesco—are covered by purchase agreements that include a substitution clause for the buyer. These assets have been acquired by the new entity directly for roughly $390 million.

The 85 hotels will keep their respective flags according to long-term franchise agreements, with all properties subject to renovations planned to begin in the near future.

“This operation substantially accelerates the repositioning of HotelInvest assets and appreciably boosts their profitability. We are very happy to contribute to the emergence of a sizeable new hotel investor in the European market, which will be a strategic partner for the Group’s future,” John Ozinga, general director of HotelInvest (Accor’s ownership and investment branch), said in a prepared statement.

Image courtesy of Jacques Yves Gucia via AccorHotels Group