Accor Sells Essendi Stake, Turns Property Into Predictable Fees

Accor has agreed to sell its remaining 30.56 percent stake in Essendi to a consortium led by Blackstone and Colony IM for up to €975 million ($1.1 billion).

The company announced the deal on April 1, 2026, and said it expects closing in the third quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder, regulatory, and antitrust approvals.

Instead of owning hotel buildings, Accor wants to focus on hotel brands, franchise contracts, loyalty, and operations. Under the agreement, Essendi’s hotels will gradually move to 20-year Accor franchise contracts, so Accor will still collect long-term fees even after selling its stake.

Accor trades property exposure for a more scalable fee-based model

Owning hotels ties up capital and exposes a company to property costs and investment needs. Franchising those hotels gives Accor a more predictable income stream and lowers risk. Accor said the deal supports its plan to make the business model more resilient and easier to scale.

This was also not a surprise. In February, Accor told investors it planned to expand franchise agreements in mature markets and finalize the Essendi sale.

Essendi has grown into a major hotel platform

Essendi is the company that came out of Accor’s earlier real estate separation. Accor created AccorInvest in 2017 to split hotel ownership from hotel operations, and the business later became Essendi.

By September 2025, Essendi had 549 owned and leased hotels with about 89,000 rooms across 22 countries, making it a large European hotel owner-operator rather than just a leftover property vehicle from Accor’s past.

Wider shift toward brand-led growth over hotel ownership

Major groups are focusing less on owning real estate and more on brand-led, capital-light expansion. A similar direction can be seen in Marriott’s recent deal with Italy’s Lefay, where growth is being built through partnership and long-term management rather than direct property ownership.

Photo by Isaac Quesada on Unsplash