AccorHotels Clears Anti-trust Hurdle in Acquring Fairmont Raffles Hotels

ACCORHOTELS MOVED one step closer to acquiring Fairmont Raffles Hotels recently.

AccorHotels announce this week that it has cleared all antitrust approvals in relevant jurisdictions, satisfying one of the closing conditions of the pending acquisition of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International.

The main next step to finalise this acquisition will be AccorHotels’ Extraordinary Shareholders meeting to approve reserved capital increase and Board representations for Qatar Investment Authority and Kingdom Holding. This meeting should be convened in the coming weeks. The transaction is expected to close mid-2016.

AccorHotels had announced the signing of 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) company for the acquisition of FRHI Holdings Ltd (FRHI), parent of Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel in December 2015.

FRHI includes three of the most prestigious global luxury hotel brands: Raffles, Fairmont and Swissôtel. It has 155 hotels and resorts (of which 40 are under development), and more than 56,000 rooms (of which approximately 13,000 are under development). Its portfolio includes such legendary properties as Raffles Singapore, The Savoy in London, Shanghai’s Fairmont Peace Hotel, The Plaza Hotel in New York, 3 Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris, Fairmont San Francisco, Fairmont Banff Springs (Canada), Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec, the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego, and Swissôtel The Stamford in Singapore.

The acquisition of these three global brands will strategically enhance AccorHotels’ brand portfolio, and will provide AccorHotels with a better-balanced business profile, according to an AccorHotel announcement.

With nearly 500 luxury and upscale properties, AccorHotels will become one of the key global players in this segment and will be able to offer the most profitable management contracts and the best growth potential in many markets. FRHI teams will bolster AccorHotels’ expertise in the luxury segment and provide the Group with new ambitions, through targeted, value-creative expansion, the release added.

Photo: The Savoy London, one of the iconic hotels which would become part of the AccorHotel portfolio once the deal is completed.