France: Accor to buy Fairmont Hotel operator for $2.9bn

French hotel chain Accor is buying the company that owns luxury hotel lines Raffles, Swissotel and Canada’s Fairmont in a deal worth about $2.9 billion US in cash and shares.

Accor is buying the company known as FRHI from joint owners Qatar Investment Authority; King Holding Co., which is the private investment arm of Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal; and Oxford Properties Group, the real estate division of OMERS, Ontario’s municipal workers pension plan.

QIA and King Holding will each retain minority stakes in the new company, while Oxford will not.

“Fairmont Raffles Hotels International has become a leading luxury hotel company with an expanded international presence,” QIA CEO Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani said in a release. “This deal generates the scale needed to drive the next phase of growth in our real estate and hospitality investments. QIA has confidence in AccorHotels and looks forward to becoming a significant shareholder.”

Full content: SF Gate

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.