LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - AccorHotels has agreed to buy Movenpick Hotels & Resorts for CHF560m in cash in a deal that is expected to be accretive to group earnings from the first year.
Movenpick Hotels & Resorts operates in 27 countries with 84 hotels and a particularly strong presence in Europe and the Middle East. It also plans to open 42 additional hotels by 2021, representing almost 11,000 rooms, with significant expansion in the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

AccorHotels chairman and chief executive Sebastien Bazin said: "With the acquisition of Movenpick, we are consolidating our leadership in the European market and are further accelerating our growth in emerging markets, in particular in Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

"The Movenpick brand is the perfect combination of modernity and authenticity and ideally complements our portfolio. Its European-Swiss heritage is a perfect fit with AccorHotels. By joining the group it will benefit from AccorHotels' power, particularly in terms of distribution, loyalty-building and development. This transaction illustrates the strategy we intend to pursue with the opening up of AccorInvest's capital: to seize tactical opportunities to strengthen our positions and consolidate our leaderships, as well as leverage our growth."

The deal is expected to complete in the second half of this year, subject to regulatory approvals.

At 0930 BST, Accor shares were up 1.5% to €46.67.

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