Accorhotels has acquired the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel brands.
The French group has signed an agreement with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) of Saudi Arabia and Oxford Properties, an Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) for the acquisition of FRHI Holdings, parent company of the three brands.
FHRI has 155 hotels and resorts, 40 of which are under development, in 34 countries across five continents.
Its portfolio includes Raffles Singapore; The Savoy in London; Shanghai's Fairmont Peace Hotel; The Plaza Hotel in New York; Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris; Fairmont San Francisco; Fairmont Banff Springs in Canada; and the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego.
Sébastien Bazin, Accorhotels chairman and CEO, said: "This is an outstanding opportunity to add three prestigious brands – Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel – to our portfolio, and a great step forward for Accorhotels.
"It offers us robust and global leadership in luxury hotels, a key segment in terms of geographic reach, growth potential and profitability, for long-term value creation."
Accorhotels will pay for the acquisition by issuing 46.7 million new Accor shares and a cash payment of $840 million. Qatar Investment Authority and Kingdom Holding Company of Saudi Arabia are to become major shareholders, with 10.5 per cent and 5.8 per cent of the share capital respectively.
In October, Accorhotels became the first foreign hotel operator to re-enter Iran.
