AccorHotels on Thursday announced an agreement to acquire FRHI Holdings, the parent company of Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel, in a deal worth US$ 2.9 billion signed with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) of Saudi Arabia, and Oxford Properties. With FRHI’s portfolio of 155 hotels and resorts and 56,000 rooms, including iconic properties such as Raffles Singapore, The Plaza Hotel in New York, and Shanghai’s Fairmont Peace Hotel, the acquisition of the high end group will expand AccorHotels’s luxury arm in across 34 countries. AccorHotels’s existing luxury  brands today includes Pullman, MGallery, and Sofitel, although the group has to date established a stronger following in line of lower tier brands, such as Ibis and Novotel.

“This is an outstanding opportunity to add three prestigious brands .. .to our portfolio,” said Sebastien Bazin, chairman and chief executive officer of AccorHotels. “It offers us robust and global leadership in luxury hotels, a key segment in terms of geographic reach, growth potential, and profitability, for long term value creation.”

For more information, visit AccorHotels.