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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.
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.
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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 |