Accor Agrees To Acquire $1.23 Billion Of European Hotels

Accor SA (AC) has agreed to buy hotels in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland for about €900 million ($1.23 billion) as part of a plan to boost the company’s real estate holdings. The purchases will contribute to earnings before interest and tax this year, the Paris-based owner of the Sofitel and Ibis brands said in a statement today. Accor is in talks with Axa Real Estate Investment Managers to finalise the purchase of 11 hotels in Switzerland with 1,592 rooms.   "These transactions send a strong signal of our capability to rapidly implement the strategy of restructuring the HotelInvest portfolio," CEO Sebastien Bazin said in the statement.   Accor, Europe’s biggest hotel operator, set up its HotelInvest unit to buy properties last year after reversing a previous plan to sell assets and focus on management. Accor opened 4,449 rooms during the first three months of this year as demand grew in all of its main markets apart from France, where a sales-tax increase hurt room rates.   Accor rose 1.3% to €38  in Paris trading. The stock has gained about 11%, giving the company a market value of €8.7 billion.   Accor is buying 86 hotels with 11,286 rooms in Germany and the Netherlands from funds managed by Moor Park Capital Partners LLP, according to the statement. After the purchases, HotelInvest’s owned hotels will contribute about 68% of the unit’s net operating income compared with a medium-term target of 75%.   Bloomberg