AccorHotels scoops up Movenpick Hotels
Ibis and Mercure owner AccorHotels announced today that it has completed its £430m takeover of Movenpick Hotels and Resorts, adding to its collection of recent luxury acquisitions.
The French hotel giant paid €482m (£434m) for the 84 hotels which began life as an offshoot of the famous ice cream brand during the 1970s.
It will enhance Accor's presence in the Middle East with its hotels in locations including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. The entire portfolio adds 20,000 rooms to Accor's empire.
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"The Mövenpick brand is the perfect combination of modernity and authenticity and ideally complements our portfolio," chief executive Sebastien Bazin said when the acquisition was announced in April. "Its European-Swiss heritage is a perfect fit with AccorHotels. By joining the group, it will benefit from AccorHotels’ power, particularly in terms of distribution, loyalty-building and development."
It marks the latest acquisition by a company which has been rapidly building its portfolio over the past year, especially in the luxury end of the sector. Just last week, Accor signed an agreement to buy a majority stake in 21c Museum Hotels, a string of boutique hotels combined with contemporary art galleries.
Bazin added: "This transaction illustrates the strategy we intend to pursue with the opening up of AccorInvest’s capital: to seize tactical opportunities to strengthen our positions and consolidate our leaderships, as well as leverage our growth.”