CARROLLTON, Texas --
Accor North America, as part of an effort to grow its luxury
Sofitel brand in the U.S., said it is seeking a long-term investor.
It also announced
plans to sell its majority interest in six properties in six key
gateway cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, San
Francisco and Washington. Accor said it would maintain an interest
in the hotels through a joint venture relationship and the hotels
would continue to operate under the Sofitel brand.
The remaining Sofitel
hotels in Chicago, Houston, New York, Philadelphia and Montreal
will retain their current ownership and management structure, Accor
said.
For our customers,
vendors and employees, this partnership will be a seamless
transition that will allow us to significantly accelerate the
presence of Sofitel throughout North America, said Georges Le
Mener, Accors president and CEO.
To that end, Accor has
appointed Colin McDonald, formerly of Four Seasons, to the position
of vice president of development for Sofitel North
America.
Sofitel expects to
this year open hotels in China, Australia, New Zealand, the Fiji
Islands, Vietnam, Brazil and Egypt.
To contact the
reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Michael Milligan at
[email protected].