French budget hotel chain snapped up by Chinese group
Leading Chinese hospitality group Jin Jiang has agreed a deal to buy France’s Louvre Hotels Group from Starwood Capital.
Louvre, which claims to be Europe’s number two budget operator, owns 1,200 hotels, including over 800 hotels in France under brands such as Campanile and Golden Tulip.
The deal is thought to be worth at least $1.5 billion.
The purchase will be finalised in the first quarter of 2015, both firms said in a joint statement.
Jin Jiang is one of China’s leading hospitality groups, with about 1,700 hotels in 11 countries.
“As a strategic investor, we are pleased, on the basis of close partnership over the past years, to reach consensus with Starwood Capital Group. There is strong complementary synergy between Louvre Hotels and Jin Jiang in brand portfolio, geographic footprint and guest base,” said Jin Jiang charman Yu Minliang in the statement.
Since 2011, Louvre and Jin Jiang have held a commercial partnership which includes co-branding of some hotels in France and China.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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