Orbis interested in Accor hotels. Those in Romania are on the list

French hotel group Accor has offered Poland’s largest hotel group Orbis 46 hotels in central Europe for EUR 142 million, according to a press release, as part of the process to reorganize its Central and Eastern European operations. The majority of the hotels are located in the capital cities of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland and the offer is exclusive to Orbis until the end of November.

“We have been analysing the possibilities of development through acquisitions for some time now. Additionally, it is worth noting that Orbis is well represented in many key cities in Poland and a business segment of our operations is to a great extent saturated. Therefore the proposal of acquiring hotel operations from Accor in those countries is in line with our strategy. It would give achance for a more dynamic growth of the Orbis Group. Many of these hotels are located in very attractive places such as Budapest or Prague,” said Gilles Clavie, President of the Management Board of Orbis.

Orbis said it would make a decision in the coming weeks. Currently, the Orbis Group comprises 68 hotels (including 52 owned, 1 leased, 3 hotels under management agreements and 12 franchised) operating in 32 cities and resorts in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Orbis would have the capacity to develop all of Accor’s hotel brands in the region by exploiting a master license for all of the Group’s brands. Accor – Orbis deal includes 38 existing hotels and other 8 currently on the pipeline. Of the 46 hotels in the portofolio, 11 are owned, 17 – leased, 11 – managed, 7 – franchised.

The Polish travel agency Polskie Biuro Podró?y Orbis was founded in 1920 by a group of bank directors, MPs and lawyers. The Orbis Hotel Group is the largest hotel network in Poland, managing nearly 60 hotels with 10.5 thousand rooms under the Etap, Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, Sofitel and Orbis Hotels brands. It has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1997 and its stocks make up the WSE’s mid-cap mWIG index (Hotels and Restaurants segment).