MOVENPICK HOTELS & RESORTS acquired by ACCOR HOTELS

AccorHotels signed an agreement on 30 April 2018 with Mövenpick Holding, which held 66.7%, and Kingdom Holding, which held 33.3%, to acquire the entire share capital of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts in cash, together with ownership of the Mövenpick brand for all hospitality activities, at an enterprise value of CHF 560m, an EV/EBITDA multiple of 10x–18x on estimated 2019 EBITDA before synergies. The transaction completed on 4 September 2018. Mövenpick brought 84 hotels and more than 20,000 rooms across 27 countries, concentrated in Europe and the Middle East, and employed over 16,000 people. Its pipeline covered 42 further hotels and almost 11,000 rooms due to open by 2021, mostly in the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Like Accor, it operated almost entirely under management contracts and franchise agreements rather than owning its properties, which fitted the French group’s asset-light model. On completion, Accor became the largest operator by room count in the Middle East and Africa, with more than 400 hotels and close to 100,000 rooms across the region, counting both operating properties and its pipeline. The acquired hotels gained access to its loyalty programme, its booking platform and its operating systems. Chief executive Sébastien Bazin presented the purchase as consolidating the group’s position in Europe while accelerating its growth in emerging markets, and as an example of the acquisitions the opening of AccorInvest’s capital had made possible.