French hotel group Accor has spent €89m (US$117.m, £71m) on acquiring 13 UK properties as it looks to gain ownership over the hotels it currently leases.
The transition away from the often-popular asset-light strategy deployed by other hotel groups comes as the business looks to re-structure under the guidance of new chief executive and chairman Sébastien Bazin.
The group will now feature two main divisions, its HotelInvest sector, which will act as a property investor, while the other will be known as HotelServices, with a role of running hotels and managing brands.
Accor, known for its Ibis, Novotel and Mercure brands, has bought the 13 hotels from investment group Tritax.
“These transactions demonstrate Accor’s ability to act swiftly in implementing the strategy announced nine months ago,” said John Ozinga, COO of HotelInvest.
“It’s an important step forward in the significant restructuring that we are leading in HotelInvest, fully aligned with our objectives which include creating value by optimising return on capital employed, while strengthening our position as the largest owner of economy and midscale hotels in key European markets.”
The group's acquired portfolio, which includes 12 Ibis and one Ibis budget hotels, represents 1,194 rooms in regional locations including: Coventry, Coventry South, Birmingham Holloway Circus, Birmingham Bordesley, Leicester City, Plymouth, Sheffield City Shude, Liverpool, Manchester Princess Street, as well as London Stratford, London Thurrock and London Barking.
The move from Accor flies in the face of a number of its competitors, which tend to lend themselves to a strategy seeing more leases than acquisition and ownership agreements.
The entrance of Accor into UK ownership comes as international hotel operator Kempinski has announced that it
will be temporarily without a presence in the UK, after mutually agreeing to end the management contract for The Stafford London, currently owned by Britannia Hospitality.
