Accor announces that it entered into a definitive agreement to sell approximately 5% stake in Huazhu Group Limited (HTHT) for USD451m, Accor will keep an approximately 5% stake in Huazhu and Chaiman and CEO Sebastien Bazin will remain on the Board.

This transaction, which was conducted in full cooperation with Huazhu and its Founder and Chairman Qi Ji, allows Accor to crystallize the value created from the implementation of the partnership between both groups in January 2016.

Over the period, the value of Accor’s initial investment in Huazhu has been increased by 4.5 times.

Accor and Huazhu will continue to develop their successful partnership and growth dynamic initiated 4 years ago, which has enabled the openings of 200 economy and midscale hotels in China, mainly under the ibis, Novotel and Mercure brands.

An additional 250 properties in the pipeline are scheduled to open over the next 3 years.