Bazin joins BTN's Most Influential list for the third
consecutive year. Accor had plenty of momentum going into this year, with a
number of acquisitions the company had announced in 2017 set to close at the
start of 2018. And close Accor did on the purchases of France's Gekko Group and
Australia's Mantra Group, a deal that made Accor the largest hotelier in
Australia and gave it a vital foothold to attract travelers across the
Asia/Pacific region. But the hotel industry's most eager acquirer of recent
years didn't stop there.
This year, Accor acquired a 50 percent stake in Mantis, a
South African operator of five-star properties and lodges; it fully acquired
restaurant reservation and table management platform ResDiary; it purchased
Movenpick Hotels & Resorts from Switzerland's Movenpick Holding and Saudi
Arabia's Kingdom Holding for 482 million euros in cash; it acquired 85 percent
of Louisville-based hospitality management company 21c Museum Hotels for $51
million; it agreed to acquire Chile's Atton Hotels for a total cash
consideration of 89 million euros; and it bought a 50 percent stake in
lifestyle hospitality group SBE Entertainment Group for $125 million.
The company also this year completed the merger of its Le
Club AccorHotels loyalty platform with that of FRHI, which Accor acquired in
2016. Additionally, it formed a strategic loyalty and IT partnership with China's
Ctrip and struck a loyalty deal with Eurostar's Club Eurostar platform.
Not all of Accor's new ventures have turned out to be
sterling successes. During the second quarter, Accor wrote off 246 million
euros on its previous acquisitions of Onefinestay and John Paul and it
initiated a strategic review of those businesses in July. Accor's executive
leadership is still committed to making those businesses work, deputy CEO
Jean-Jacques Morin said during Accor's third-quarter earnings call, but it's
not sure how it plans to do so just yet.
Nevertheless, Bazin's willingness to boldly explore and
invest in areas beyond traditional hotel stays—and even to stumble in those
areas—is refreshing in an industry characterized by a historically slow
reaction to change. It's also influential. While other hoteliers are testing
the waters in areas like home rentals (Marriott International) and hostels
(Hilton), Accor long ago dove in completely and has emerged with unmatched
insight to carry into the future.
Bazin has described Accor as a lodging company on a quest to
stick in the minds of consumers beyond when they stay in hotels. "Will we
succeed? I don't know," he said during an investor presentation in
February via an English translator. "Will we give it a try? For sure."