LVMH Takes 50% in Orient Express With Eyes on Full Control

Back in June 2024, LVMH and Accor finalized a deal granting LVMH a 50 percent stake in the Orient Express brand. The agreement covers future hotels, revived luxury train operations, and a luxury sailing yacht project.

LVMH also secured a call option to acquire the remaining 50 percent stake by 2027, potentially taking full control.

Key launches planned for 2026–2027 include

• a revived Paris–Istanbul train,
• Orient Express sailing superyacht, and
• the expansion of new luxury hotels opened in Rome and Venice in 2025.

Accor acquired the Orient Express brand from SNCF in 2017 and assumed ownership in 2022, aiming to restore it as a symbol of luxury travel.

Earlier in July, LVMH sold its only US hotel, the Belmond El Encanto in Santa Barbara, California.

Cover photo by Eleanor Brooke on Unsplash