Accor in talks to buy concierge group John Paul
The deal would see Accor – which owns brands including Mecure, Raffles and Novotel – acquire 80 per cent of John Paul for around $150m.
The company’s founder David Amsellem will hold the remaining stake and stay on as CEO.
It marks a major step in the French group’s plan to transform itself from hotel provider in to a ‘travel companion’ offering guest services at every stage of the journey.
Sebastien Bazin, chairman & CEO of Accor said: “The acquisition of John Paul enables us to accelerate our global strategy to position the customer experience at the very heart of our initiatives.”
Accor has been mounting a growing challenge to the threat of the sharing economy and Airbnb with a wave of purchases this year.
The company bought a 30 per cent stake in private rental chain Oasis Collections in February and acquired luxury home rental service onefinestay for £117m in April.
Unlike Airbnb, onefinestay offers personalized services such as cleaning, 24/7 on-call assistance and home maintenance.
Bazin said the John Paul sale would further strengthen Accor’s position as ‘the best provider of multi-nature services to guests, supporting the whole customer journey, from non-hotel offers to 24/7 assistance’.
Founded in Paris in 2007, John Paul merged with LesConcierges in 2015 and works with hotel brands to offer a bespoke concierge service round the clock.
News of the acquisition comes as Accor prepares to ramp up its growth in the luxury hotel market after shareholders approved its purchase of FRHI Hotels & Resorts, owner of the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel brands, for £1.9bn on 12 July.
The deals follow a strong year of trading for the company which saw profits rise nine per cent to £189m in 2015.
