AccorHotels to Acquire John Paul, World Leader in Concierge Market

ACCORHOTELS ANNOUNCED it has begun exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of John Paul, the leading player in premium customer and employee loyalty services. The company’s Enterprise Value should be close to 150 million dollars i.e. a 2017e EV/EBITDA multiple of c. 11X. Accorhotels should acquire about 80% of John Paul, the remaining stake being kept by David Amsellem, the founder of the company, who will remain as CEO.

After Wipolo, Oasis Collections, SquareBreak and onefinestay, the acquisition of John Paul, world leader in the customer loyalty and concierge markets marks a major new step in transforming AccorHotels into a travel companion providing innovative services to travelers at every step of their journey.

Founded in Paris in 2007, John Paul merged with LesConcierges in 2015, creating the world leader in loyalty services with a combined workforce of 1,000 highly skilled and trained people, across all five continents. The team works as a partner to the world’s leading brands and a bespoke concierge available around the clock, 7 days a week, anywhere in the world, to meet their customers’ request from the simplest to the most complex.

The first technology enabled concierge, equipped with a proprietary Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and data platform based on a behavioral profiling and a 360°personalization, as well as a network of over 50,000 partners in more than 50 countries, the company offers the most exhaustive and global loyalty solutions to prestigious brands in the financial, automotive, travel, consumer, healthcare, pharma, luxury industries and more.

With a superior technology supporting its premium service culture, and sound profitability, John Paul has become the acknowledged expert to assist its clients from designing their offer to implementing their customized loyalty programs, which comprises a full service offer with content and cross-channel marketing.

Sebastien Bazin, Chairman & CEO of AccorHotels explained,"The acquisition of John Paul enables us to accelerate our global strategy to position the customer experience at the very heart of our initiatives. Their expertise in customization combined with a wide range of services and cutting-edge technology, gives us the opportunity to boost the value of the relationships with our guests and partners and multiply the number of touch points. It means a further solidification of our customer relation through an attractive offer and a higher usage, an increased personalization of our services thanks to a deeper customer profiling with non-hotel driven information, and the strengthening of our CRM with affinity data. Through this partnership with the world leader in the growing concierge market, AccorHotels positions itself as the best provider of multi-nature services to guests, supporting the whole customer journey, from non-hotel offers to 24/07 assistance through an integrated and innovative solution".

David Amsellem, CEO of Paul John declared: “From inception, I founded John Paul deeply rooted with a passion for service and hospitality.  My vision is that we can enhance the lives of millions of guests by delivering the highest personalized service. Over the past few years, John Paul has made a huge growth across industries. Now that we are the worldwide leader in premium loyalty solutions, we feel that we are at a tipping point in our venture and we need the empowerment of a strong leader to support the current traction. Entering the travel industry supported by AccorHotels means much more to the 1,000 people of the John Paul Group: we feel that combining our strengths will create a game changer in the industry”.