AccorHotels, QIA and Kingdom Holding for long-term partnership

AccorHotels, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Kingdom Holding Company have established the principles for their long term shareholder partnership.At the General Meeting that was held yesterday, shareholders representing 73.13% of the total were present or represented by proxy.The shareholders of the group approved the resolution finalising the acquisition of FRHI Holdings Limited (FRHI) and the corresponding share capital increase reserved for the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), as well as their representation on the Board of Directors.The shareholders also approved the appointment of six new directors: Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo and Ali Bouzarif, proposed by Qatar Investment Authority, Sarmad Zok, proposed by Kingdom Holding Company, and Jiang Qiong Er, Isabelle Simon and Natacha Valla as independent directors.The Board of Directors now has some 16 members, including one employee representative director. Seven directors are women and nine are independent. A new employee representative director will be appointed by the group’s European Work Council within the next few weeks, in accordance with the company’s bylaws.Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of AccorHotels, said, “The six new Board members who have been appointed by our shareholders today are bringing tremendous diversity and experience to AccorHotels’ Board. I am convinced that their complementary backgrounds and views will be of great support to continue developing our growth and innovation strategy in the future.”The changes in the group’s shareholder structure and in the composition of its Board of Directors are governed by individual shareholder agreements between Accor and each of QIA and KHC setting out the principles and objectives of their individual shareholdings.During the closing of this transaction, Sébastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of AccorHotels said, “I am pleased to welcome QIA and KHC as major shareholders of the Group and to have their representatives on the Board of Directors as from now. The acquisition of FRHI that we have just finalised proves the agility of the Group in a hospitality sector undergoing great change and reinforces our service offering for our clients and partners. It also enables AccorHotels to consolidate its shareholder base, with two renowned investors that are great specialists of the global hotel sector becoming new shareholders. With the support of QIA and KHC as well as the active involvement of their representatives in the work of the Board of Directors, we are ideally placed to keep on implementing our ambitious and value-creating strategy”.QIA said, “QIA puts its trust in AccorHotels and is pleased to become a significant shareholder of this company. We are convinced of the relevance of this transaction for QIA and fully support the strategy defined by the Board of Directors of AccorHotels and implemented by the group’s management team. The acquisition of FRHI positions AccorHotels as a key player in the luxury hospitality industry and strengthens its positioning as the world’s leading hotel operator.”Zok said, “The combination of FRHI with AccorHotels is a milestone transaction in the hospitality sector at a time when the industry is undergoing major structural changes characterised by consolidation, consumer empowerment, disruptive technology, and distribution channels. We are confident in the capacity of the Group and its executives to implement growth and value-creation opportunities within this context. As a significant shareholder in AccorHotels with a seat on the Board of Directors, Kingdom fully supports the current management strategy and looks forward to contributing to AccorHotels’ future success.”