A joint venture of Crédit Agricole Assurances' Predica unit and Foncière des Murs (FdM) has signed an agreement with French hotel operator Accor group to acquire a portfolio of 48 hotels spread across France, Belgium and Germany. The transaction price amounts to EUR 367 mln, reflecting a yield of 6.6%.

A joint venture of Crédit Agricole Assurances' Predica unit and Foncière des Murs (FdM) has signed an agreement with French hotel operator Accor group to acquire a portfolio of 48 hotels spread across France, Belgium and Germany. The transaction price amounts to EUR 367 mln, reflecting a yield of 6.6%.

The portfolio, comprising 31 assets in France, 10 assets in Belgium and a further seven in Germany, was acquired by an 80/20 partnership of Predica and FdM, the hospitality arm of Fonciere des Regions. Main hotels include the Ibis Roissy hotel offering 772 rooms and the Ibis Porte d’Italie in Paris with 257 rooms.

As part of the agreement, the Accor group is retaining ownership of the business and the management of the hotels which will continue to be operated under the Etap, Ibis, Novotel and SuiteHotel brands with a rental price amounting to an average of 19% of the turnover. The deal is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Accor's disposal is part of the French group's strategy to remake itself as a major franchiser and operator of hotels, rather than a hotel owner.

The operation is the latest property disposal by the French hotel group in Europe. In September last year Accor sold and leased back 158 budget hotels representing a total of 12,300 rooms in France for EUR 272 mln. The disposal was carried out with a consortium of French institutional investors through a property investment trust (OPCI). In 2007, the French hotel group also divested 148 hotels in France, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands for nearly EUR 1.5 bn.