Skift Take

AccorHotels is definitely in the mood to buy. But the bigger question is, now that it has all of these things, how will the company actually integrate them all so that they're successful?

It was only nearly two years ago that AccorHotels announced it had purchased luxury hotel brands Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissotel for $2.7 billion.

And soon enough, AccorHotels’ luxury and upscale hotel portfolio may also include Swiss luxury brand, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.

On Wednesday, French newspaper Le Figaro reported that the company was in negotiations to purchase Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, which has 83 hotels across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

Over the past two years, AccorHotels — Europe’s largest hotel group — has developed quite a reputation for being a highly acquisitive hospitality company.

Most recently, it closed on a purchase of online restaurant reservations platform, ResDiary, and announced a stake in Mantis Group, a small luxury boutique hotel chain based in South Africa.

Last week, the company also said that it intends to make more acquisitions in the years to come following a spinoff of its real estate business that takes place this year.

If the news reports of AccorHotels’ intent to buy Mövenpick do come true, it will solidify the company’s reputation of being one of the biggest luxury hospitality companies in the world, alongside Marriott International. Prior to its acquisition of Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissotel in 2016, AccorHotels was primarily known for having hotel brands that were far from being considered luxury.

Today, however, thanks to its various investments in or partnerships with Onefinestay, Travel Keys, Banyan Tree, Orient Express, and Rixos Hotels, the company has grown its luxury and upscale portfolio considerably. And should Mövenpick be added to the portfolio, it will deepen AccorHotels’ investment in that sector even further. By 2020, Mövenpick is expected to have a portfolio of 125 hotels worldwide.

Mövenpick Hotels’s majority owner is Mövenpick Holdings, which also includes international catering business Marche International, Mövenpick Wine, and Mövenpick Fine Foods. Its minority owner is Kingdom Holding Company, which is chaired by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, who also played a role in AccorHotels’ previous acquisition of Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissotel. When AccorHotels bought Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissotel in 2016, Kingdom, which had owned 35.3 percent of those brands, became a minority stakeholder in AccorHotels.

Representatives for AccorHotels had no comment regarding the news reports. AccorHotels CEO Sebastien Bazin is scheduled to be interviewed on stage at Skift Forum Europe in Berlin later today.

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Tags: accor, mövenpick

Photo credit: The Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket. AccorHotels is reportedly interested in acquiring Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts. Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts

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