Accor Buys Mantis Stake to Expand African Hotel Network
Date: April 2018
Location: 28 hotels, mainly across Africa
Name: Mantis Group
The game reserve owned by Mantis in the Eastern Cape
Seller: The Gardiner family. The business ranges from branded hotels and residences including boutique villas and flagship properties such as Founders Lodge, a South African game reserve located in the Eastern Cape, and the elegant Draycott Hotel in London.
Mantis also owns and operates a number of unique luxury houseboats and a lodge under the Zambezi Queen Collection brand.
Buyer: Accor to buy 50% of Mantis.
The Mantis transaction will add 28 hotels to the group’s portfolio that ranges from hotels and villas to luxury houseboats, ski lodges, chalets & yachts, over all 7 continents, with the majority in Africa.
The partnership is accompanied by the launch of a non-profit organisation, the Community Conservation Fund Africa, which aims to prevent the accelerating decline of Africa’s wildlife. The NGO also brings together three conservation organisations – Wilderness Foundation, Tusk Trust and African Parks.
The Evry, France-based company (AccorInvest) sold off 55 percent of its real estate business for 4.4 billion euros (US$5.4 billion) in February to fund the deal and further its growth in emerging economies.
The deal still needs regulatory approvals, according to the company. AccorHotels currently operates more than 200 hotels in the Middle East and Africa and aims to open another 100 in the next five years to capitalise on the continent’s growing population and economy, it said.
THPT Comment: The Gardiner family grew an interesting company through both ownership and representation over the past 17 years,
June 2018: Private members club the Devonshire Club in London (68 bedrooms and suites) has partnered with hotel global network Mantis Collection ahead of appointing Steven Cowie as new general manager.
The family-run Mantis collection was awarded the management contract in a deal that the companies said in a joint statement will take the Devonshire Club “to the next level”.
First Seen: Webintravel