Hotel group Accor has signed an agreement with a consortium of five banks for a new €560m revolving credit facility.
The group now has more than €4 billion of cash available to navigate the Covid-19 storm, and said it has begun to see the initial signs of recovery.
More than 250 properties in its 5,000-strong hotel portfolio have re-opened since the end of April, and 42% in total are now operating.
The new 12-month credit facility adds to the currently undrawn €1.2bn revolving credit facility signed in July 2018 and has two six-month extension options.
It has been underwritten by BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, Natixis and Société Générale.
Accor has already announced it will suspend share buyback programmes; not be paying dividends in respect of 2019, implement cost-saving measures and suspend external growth transactions.
In a statement confirming the credit facility, Accor said: “While operations are still challenging, the group sees initial signs of business improvement. In France, the lockdown relaxation and the measures announced by the government to support tourism in the country are favourable elements. RevPAR shows some recovery in China while the number of opened hotels in the world increases every day, in Asia and in Europe, notably in Germany. Accor has re-opened 250 hotels since end-April. To date, 42% of the Accor network is operating.”