Accor is buying Mexican hotel chain Grupo Posadas in a move the French company said will consolidate its market position in the region.
The listed business is paying USD 275.00 million for the target’s South American portfolio, which includes properties in Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Accor said the deal is part of its strategic expansion policy announced in September, which outlined a shift in focus to emerging markets.
In May Accor teamed up with Singaporean real estate investment trust Ascendas to purchase Mirvac Group’s hotels and resorts in Australia and New Zealand for AUD 321.50 million (USD 328.76 million).
At the same time, the French firm agreed to offload its US economy hotels division to Blackstone for USD 1.90 billion.
The Grupo Posadas deal will strengthen Accor’s existing brands in Latin America, which include Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel and Mercure.
It will also provide the listed business with a secured pipeline of 14 hotels under management contract, as well as two of the Mexican company’s Cesar Park and Cesar Business divisions.
Completion of the transaction is expected by the end of 2012, following which Accor said it will have more than 200 hotels and around 34,000 rooms in on the continent.
Speaking about the deal, Roland Bonadona, chief operating officer of the company’s Latin American division said: “This is a strategic milestone for the group, as it enables us to optimise our network, our distribution channels, and our support services platforms.
“We are very ahead of schedule on our expansion plan. Within the next three years, Accor and Posadas pipelines combined will allow us to operate more than 300 hotels.”
Shares in the Euronext Paris-listed company touched a high of EUR 24.98 during morning trading.
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