NEWS | A Major Purchase For Accor In Asia-Pacific

Accor has acquired Australian hotel management company Mirvac Hotels & Resorts for €149 million. Mirvac has 48 hotels (including two owned hotels) across Australia and New Zealand, and the deal brings Accor's portfolio in these two countries up to 241 hotels (32,500 rooms). Accor has also paid €46 million for a 21.6% stake in investment vehicle Mirvac Wholesale Hotel Fund (MWHF), which owns seven of the 48 hotels. Additionally, it is also reported that Accor and Singapore-based real estate developer Ascendas plan to jointly acquire Mirvac's 49.2% stake in MWHF. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2012 and most of the hotels are to be rebranded as Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel or Mercure properties. "This operation is a major success in a high growth market," said Accor's chairman and chief executive officer, Denis Hennequin.
"With our growth strategy which includes both organic growth and targeted acquisitions such as this one, enabled by our excellent financial situation, I am confident in our capacity to reach our objectives," he added. Thomas Cook Sells Spanish Hotel Portfolio As part of an ongoing disposal programme, holiday firm Thomas Cook has reached an agreement to sell its 51% stake in holding company Hotels Y Clubs De Vacaciones (HCV) to Majorca-based Iberostar Hoteles y Apartamentos, the hotel arm of Grupo Iberostar, for €72.2 million (with a net debt of €22.4 million). Along with a co-investor, Iberostar is spending €94 million in total to acquire 100% of HCV, which owns five hotels and one golf club in Spain, and also operates another golf club in the country. The deal will reduce Thomas Cook's net debt by €94.6 million. Thomas Cook's acting chief executive, Sam Weihagen, said, "I am delighted that we have been able to agree this transaction which will significantly reduce Thomas Cook's net debt and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to strengthen the balance sheet. Importantly for our customers, we have been able to maintain access to this popular portfolio of hotels through a commercial arrangement with our partner Grupo Iberostar." A New Owner For The Hotel Verta Simon Cowell may be famous in the world of music and celebrity, but when it comes to property and the hospitality industry it is his brother, Nicholas, who gets the headlines. Woodlon, which was set up by Nicholas Cowell, has bought the Hotel Verta, in London, out of administration off a guide price of £20 million. The 70-room hotel was one of four properties that didn't form part of the administration of von Essen, when it collapsed earlier this year. However, the hotel went on to fall into administration at the end of July. Woodlon have picked Rhombus International Hotels Group to operate the hotel, which will be rebranded Hotel Verta by Rhombus. Rhombus currently manages four hotels in Hong Kong, with a flagship property due to open in China in 2012, but this is its first hotel project in Europe. Cowell's co-founder of Woodlon, Adrian Levy, commented that the group is looking to buy more hotels in 2012. "We are mainly looking for distressed assets and will be bringing in hotel operators to run the properties to add value to the assets," he said.

Source

Search HR Jobs with Accor