Accor is adding 43 hotels across Australia and New Zealand with the purchase of the Mirvac Group’s hotel interests in the region.
A major priority will be to rebrand a number of the hotels under Accor’s upscale Pullman brand.
The takeover for an undisclosed sum will see the French chain’s network in Australia and New Zealand grow to some 240 hotels, representing 32,000 rooms.
It also makes Accor the first group in the Asia Pacific region to exceed 500 hotels.
In the first phase of integration, Sydney Marriott Hotel has been re-branded as Pullman Sydney Hyde Park and the Sebel Newcastle Beach will be re-branded to Novotel Newcastle Beach next month.
Mirvac’s hotels currently operate under the Quay West Suites & Resorts, Sea Temple, Sebel Hotels, Resorts & Residences and Citigate brands.
Accor Asia Pacific chief operating officer Michael Issenberg said: “The settlement of this deal will fundamentally re-shape the hotel industry in Australia and New Zealand.
“We have seen many of the original overseas players in the hotel sector retreat from this region in recent years while Accor has aggressively grown its network through management and franchise contracts and strategic acquisition deals such as the purchase of Mirvac’s hotels.
“We will be able to add significantly to the competitiveness of the Mirvac hotels once they are fully integrated into the Accor network.
“The benefits will come from access to our global distribution platform, strong branding, our pre-eminent position in the rapidly expanding Asian markets, and the support of the region’s most experienced and professional workforce.
“We will particularly focus on expanding our Pullman brand. The brand has achieved great traction since launching in 2007 and is now also a major player in Asia Pacific, Europe and South America.
“In this region, Pullman is currently represented in Sydney, Cairns and Auckland, and with the addition of the former Sydney Marriott, and with the planned re-branding of a number of existing Mirvac hotels to Pullman, it will become a real force in the Pacific over the next two years.
“By 2015 it is expected that there will be over 150 Pullman hotels globally, with some 60 of them in key cities and resort areas across Asia Pacific.”