As soon as the month of May is torn from the calendar in the boardroom at Club Méditerranée (Club Med), a hush descends and all eyes turn to the telephone.

The board has come to expect a call from Accor. It was in the June of 2004 that Accor took a stake of 28.9% in Club Med, and the June of 2006 when Accor sold a stake of 22.9%.

Now, in the June of 2009, a voice representing Accor will come on the line to inform the Club Med board that Accor has sold a stake of around 4%.

The banking group Crédit Agricole has taken that stake and has paid €10 million for it. Accor has 98,800 Club Med shares left, and these it will sell on the open market at a date yet unspecified.

www.hvs.com