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ACCOR Acquires Thakral's All Seasons Hotel Management Business for AU$29 Million
 
Monday, 20 December 1999: - ACCOR Asia Pacific has agreed to buy the All Seasons hotel management business from Thakral Holdings Limited. ACCOR Asia Pacific is Australia�s largest hotel management company.

As part of the transaction, contracts at the existing six Thakral owned hotels already managed by ACCOR will be extended to 15 years. ACCOR will pay AU$29 million for the full transaction.

All Seasons currently manages 27 properties with 3,825 rooms, including five Thakral-owned hotel and resort properties. It is Australia�s fourth largest hotel manager and employs over 1500 full time and part time staff. Thakral has owned the business since 1994. The All Seasons portfolio is made up of hotels in the 3 - 4.5 star category.
 

The flagship hotel is the Menzies in Sydney, but the group also includes six CBD hotels in Melbourne, a range of hotels in Queensland resort areas such as Sunshine Coast and Cairns, new hotels in Sydney�s Darling Harbour and South Australia�s Barossa Valley, and a spread of hotels in Western Australia and Northern Territory, including Observation Rise in Perth, El Questro in the Kimberleys and the Frontier hotels in Darwin and Katherine.
All Seasons Premier Menzies Hotel 
Sydney

Managing Director of ACCOR, Mr Michael Issenberg, said: �We always had a healthy respect for All Seasons and the brand will be maintained and enhanced by adding the benefits of our international sales, marketing and reservations network. ACCOR�s brand names include Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis and Formule 1, and are carried by more than 3,200 hotels worldwide.  The combined strength of this international reach, our existing business in Australia, and the well established All Seasons business and brand will ensure customer satisfaction, enhanced opportunities for over 10,000 employees and improved hotel profitability.

�We are delighted to further our relationship with Thakral, as we have combined with great success in the management of six of their hotels in the past and the All Seasons portfolio is a natural complement of the existing Accor network,� said Mr Issenberg. �The agreement also highlights Accor�s aim to concentrate on our expertise of operating and managing hotels�.

Thakral managing director, Mr John Schaap, said the sale represented good value for Thakral and was part of the company�s continued property diversification. �We have chosen to strengthen our relationship with ACCOR as we consider it to be an excellent manager of hotel properties. We regard the long-term management contracts with ACCOR as an advantage, particularly as they were struck on very competitive terms.

�The sale of All Seasons has been primarily motivated by the advantage of being closely associated with a strong international group. As global tourism and sales through the Internet increase, it will become increasingly important for hotels to be associated with well known international brands,� Mr Schaap said.

�Accor will be able to provide significant global sales, marketing and reservations benefits to the hotels currently in the All Seasons portfolio.  They become an integral part of the largest hotel network in Australia and will have the support of the global Accor network. It will enable considerable economies, while exposing this excellent group of hotels to a far wider audience.�

�Thakral is a diversified property group with hotel investments, gaming, property development and commercial property investments.�

The acquisition of the All Seasons group will see Accor�s portfolio of hotels in Australia rise to 90. It will increase the size of the Accor Asia Pacific group to 170 hotels in 16 countries. The Accor global network comprises over 3,200 hotels. Accor is also a leader in tourism services, with significant interests in travel agencies, catering, restaurants, convention centres and other tourism services.
 

Thakral Holdings Limited is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since June 1994, and currently enjoys a market capitalisation of $300 million (approx.). Since it went public, the Company has firmly established itself as a leader in hotel investments in Australia. The total assets of the company exceed $580 million. 

Thakral is a broad-based hotel and property owner, manager and developer, with presence in almost all the states of Australia. The Company owns fourteen hotels comprising over 3000 rooms. In addition to this, it operates twenty-one hotels, through its wholly owned subsidiary - All Seasons Hotels.

Apart from hotel investments, the Company owns and manages four shopping centres, two office buildings and a commercial car park. It has also successfully embarked on limited property development to complement the already established hotel, retail, commercial and car park arms of the business. 

Thakral Holdings Limited owns well known properties such as the All Seasons Premier Menzies Hotel and Wynyard Retail Centre in Sydney, All Seasons Premier Pacific Bay Resort in Coffs Harbour, the Novotel on Collins Hotel, Hilton on the Park, and Australia on Collins Shopping Centre in Melbourne.
 

All Seasons Hotels is a leading hotel operator in Australia offering almost 4,000 rooms through a unique network of mid market hotels, resorts, apartments and outback experiences.

The company has been successfully operating hotels and resorts for the past 19 years and is recognised internationally as providing quality, affordable and value for money accommodation in the 3 and 4 star markets.

All Seasons Hotels has two clearly defined brands to choose from: "All Seasons" which accommodates the middle corporate and tourist markets and "All Seasons Premier" which accommodates the upper Australian and International corporate tourist markets. All Seasons Premier hotels and resorts are located around Australia in prime central business districts and holiday destinations and All Seasons hotels and resorts are located in major tourist and business destinations.

All Seasons Hotels is a subsidiary of Thakral Holdings Limited, a listed company on the AustralianStock Exchange. Thakral Holdings is Australia�s largest hotel owner and manager and is a major investor in the tourism industry in Australia.

 
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Contact:
Accor: 
Peter Hook (Tel) 612 9367 0860 
E-mail: [email protected]
Thakral: John Schaap 
(Tel) 612 9272 8888
 
Also See: Accor Casinos Expands in France and Belgium with Five New Casinos / Oct 1999 
Hotel Sofitel Tokyo Acquired by French-based Accor Group / March 1999 
Accor Passes 10,000 Room Mark in Australia / June 1999 
Demeure and Libertel hotels (49 hotels, 3,240 rooms) Join Accor Hotel Network / Dec 1999 

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