Banyan Tree Holdings and Accorhotels have entered into a strategic partnership that will see the brands collaborate on the development and management of Banyan Tree-branded properties around the world. The agreement will also give Banyan Tree access to Accorhotels’ global reservations and sales network along with its Le Club Accorhotels loyalty programme.
Accorhotels is set to invest an initial S$24 million (US$16.9 million) in the Singapore-based Banyan Tree group through a mandatory convertible debenture that will give Accorhotels a 5 per cent stake in Banyan Tree at conversion.
The agreement comes following numerous recent mergers and acquisitions of major hotel groups, most notably the Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts merger in September.
Speaking about the partnership, executive chairman of Banyan Tree, Ho Kwon Ping, said: “With the current consolidation of mega hotel companies, smaller but also global players – many family-controlled – are also seeking strategic alliances with the global giants. Our strategic alliance with Accorhotels allows us to remain an independent company, enabling us to continue securing hotel management agreements on our own and yet accelerating Banyan Tree’s speed and scope of expansion but with Accorhotels helping us to grow our brands around the world.”
For Accorhotels, the partnership provides an enhancement of its own offerings, particularly in Asia-Pacific, and adds to the group’s own acquisition of Fairmont, Raffles and Swisshotel back in December, 2015.
“Banyan Tree Holdings has created key leading positions across Asia with luxury resorts, one of the fastest-growing segments in the industry,” said Sebastien Bazin, CEO and chairman of Accorhotels. “We will bring scale to the network through our ability to develop and manage hotels under the Banyan Tree brands globally, hence strengthening our leadership in the luxury hotel space.”
