PARIS—Accor and Huazhu Hotels Group, also known as China Lodging Group, sealed an extensive and long-term alliance to create a diversified hotel company in China with more than 2,000 hotels.
“This ground-breaking collaboration will leverage the strengths of Accor’s global brands with a leading player in Chinese hospitality,” said Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of Accor. “Joining Huazhu’s unparalleled local expertise with our brands will create a hospitality powerhouse which will deliver unprecedented value to both groups and to our customers.”
Ji Qi, Huazhu founder, chairman and CEO, stated, “With an extensive brand portfolio, and strong distribution and loyalty platforms, Accor and Huazhu share a lot of common values. By combining forces, we can facilitate growth and attract more customers to the expanded network.”
Together the groups have more than 500 hotels in the pipeline in the region, and the alliance is expected to further accelerate development and see faster expansion of Accor’s brands in China.
Huazhu already has a portfolio of over 1,900 hotels. Huazhu’s hotel brands cover the full spectrum of the market from upscale (Joya, Manxin) to midscale (JI Hotels, Starway) and economy (Hanting, Elan and Hi Inn). Accor currently has 144 hotels in China across eight brands, including luxury/upscale (Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure); midscale (Novotel, Mercure) and economy (ibis, ibis Styles). The group has been present in China for more than three decades.
Pursuant to the transaction, Accor’s economy and midscale platform in China will become part of Huazhu. Under the arrangement, Huazhu will become Accor’s exclusive master-franchisee operating and developing in Mainland China, Mongolia and Taiwan for the economy (ibis, ibis Styles,) and midscale segments (Novotel and Mercure), as well as the upscale Grand Mercure brand.
Accor will continue to lead the ownership and development of all its luxury and other upscale brands in China, including Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery and The Sebel. Huazhu will become a minority shareholder in Accor’s luxury and upscale business in China (10%) and will help support future development in the country, thanks to its in-depth relationships with key Chinese real estate investors.