News & Stories

Paris/Zurich. The rumours have become true: AccorHotels has today announced that it has signed an agreement with Mövenpick Holding and Kingdom Holding to acquire Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, for a cash amount of CHF560 million.
The transaction implies a 14.9X 2019e EBITDA multiple before synergies, and less than 10X pro forma 2019e EBITDA after run rate synergies and committed development pipeline. The transaction will have an accretive impact on Group earnings from the first year.
Founded in 1973 in Switzerland, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts operates in 27 countries with 84 hotels and a particularly strong presence in Europe and the Middle East. Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts also plans to open 42 additional hotels by 2021, representing almost 11,000 rooms, with significant expansion in Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The goup, which has high-end expertise in the main hotel-related services, employs more than 16,000 people worldwide.
Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of AccorHotels, said, "With the acquisition of Mövenpick, we are consolidating our leadership in the European market and are further accelerating our growth in emerging markets, in particular in Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The Mövenpick brand is the perfect combination of modernity and authenticity and ideally complements our portfolio. 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. 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."
Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts will benefit from AccorHotels’ loyalty program, distribution channels and operating systems, which will help optimize their performance. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. It should be completed during the second half of 2018. / red

San Francisco. The American Hotels & Lodging Association wants to put an end to Airbnb's special treatment which it claims cost millions of dollars to normal tax payers. AHLA also says that if Airbnb wants to enter the hotel business, then it needs to be regulated, taxed and subject to the same safety compliances and oversight that law-abiding hotel companies adhere to each day. The gloves are off.

Munich. While fathers are willing to take some risks on holidays, the 20 to 29-year-olds prefer to play it safe. This reversed logic of generations has been revealed by the current survey of Europaeische Reiseversicherung, a European travel insurer. Young people are even booking again more often via travel agencies.

Amsterdam/Paris. Despite various announcements in 2017, Louvre Hotels was relatively silent throughout the year. However, there was much movement in the background. Pierre Frederic Roulot, CEO Louvre Hotels Group and Jin Jiang International, explained the news to Sarah Douag in a dedicated interview: accordingly, a deal hoped for went bust in Germany, instead, the company learned more about the market. As part of Jin Jiang, Louvre increasingly uses the Chinese market as a testing ground for new brands of which there are many. Several are being introduced immediately in all major cities around the globe. The chain that has been focusing on the 3 and 4-star segment so far will now start in the luxury segment as well. Roulot is announcing a total of four new brands straight away. And 1,000 hotels could instantly be turned into an own luxury hotel division. With its 7,000 hotels, Louvre Hotels Group is no longer a minor player. Louvre contributes 2,600 hotels to the group, Jin Jiang 4,400 hotels.

New York/Beijing. WeWork, the world's leader co-working service provider is getting even bigger. The company announced a few days ago that it has signed a merger agreement with its rival in China, Naked Hub.

Bethesda. Marriott International announced it will introduce one set of unified benefits across Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest for its members in August 2018. With this rich hospitality loyalty program members will earn more points faster than under the prior programs. F&B services and Marriott Moments are included.

Tel Aviv/Amsterdam/Paris. Acquisitions continue to be in high demand: the Israel-based holding Fattal is obiously about to close a deal with the Dutch group European Hotel Management, which operates 13 properties in the Netherlands under the Apollo Hotels brand. Last week, French AccorHotels acquired another new service company, a British table reservation system.

Vienna. Heritage Hotels of Europe presented themselves this week in Vienna as new umbrella association. They officially combine associations from three countries whose members stretch over various European countries. The new formation arises as Historic Hotels of Europe disintegrates.

Rockville/Barcelona. Choice Hotels is strengthening its international expansion with a new strategical partnership. The Spanish operator company Sercotel Hotels has provided the US chain with growth in Spain, as well as in numerous European and Latin-American markets.

Amsterdam. What do Arne Sorenson, Marriott's CEO and Chris Nassetta, Hilton's CEO think about development, loyalty, booking trends, technology, China and the impact of Trump's policies on US tourism? While presenting their Q4 2017 results to analysts, the two CEOs discussed details about their strategies. Having access to the transcripts of calls, hospitalityInside.com took the opportunity to compare both groups' explanations on similar topics.