AccorHotels will acquire Australian hotel and resort
operator Mantra Group in a transaction that will significantly increase Accor's
already strong presence in the country and in the Asia/Pacific region.
Though news of a potential deal between the two companies circulated
earlier
this week, Accor confirmed via a media release on Thursday that it had
signed an agreement to pay $3.96 Australian dollars for each share of Mantra,
or almost $1 billion total in U.S. dollars.
AccorHotels CEO Sebastien Bazin said the Mantra acquisition
would support Accor's long-term growth strategy in Asia/Pac. "Mantra’s
portfolio would offer AccorHotels additional accommodation formats and a strong
customer base to complement our successful hotel portfolio in Australia,"
Bazin said. "We are confident that the transaction terms are attractive for
shareholders of both groups.”
Mantra chairman Peter Bush in turn said the company's board
and shareholders "trust that our business will be in good hands" and
that the deal will bolster Australia's growing tourism market.
Mantra's portfolio is comprised of more than 20,000 units in
127 hotels, resorts and serviced-apartment properties in Australia, New
Zealand, Indonesia and Hawaii. Beyond growing Accor's scale in the region, the
arrangement gives Accor access to Mantra's expertise in apartment management.
Accor's other recent acquisitions—which include Onefinestay,
TravelKeys
and Squarebreak—point
to long-term interest in the home- and apartment-rental space.
Accor estimates the transaction will close by
the end of the first quarter of 2018, pending regulatory and shareholder
approvals.