AccorHotels Continues Buying Streak with 21c Museum Hotels
by Jessica Montevago
21c Museum Hotels was founded in 2006.
AccorHotels announced this week it will acquire an 85 percent stake in 21c Museum Hotels, a luxury hotel chain in the United States, in a $51 million deal.
The Paris-based company plans to integrate 21c Museum Hotels eight properties, and three more under development, into its upper-upscale boutique MGallery brand, marking its debut in North America.
21c Museum Hotels operates contemporary art galleries or museums in a hotel setting, in cities like Louisville, Cincinnati, Durham, Nashville, and Oklahoma City, and plans to open in Miami and Chicago.
Co-founders of 21c Museum Hotels, Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, will retain a 15 percent stake in the company and will continue to work closely both with AccorHotels and 21c Museum Hotels CEO Craig Greenberg. The brand will also remain headquartered in Louisville.
The deal, expected to close by the third quarter of 2018, is just one of several for the hospitality giant. AccorHotels recently announced it would acquire a 50 percent stake in SBE Entertainment Group for $319 million, and in 2016 finalized its acquisition of the Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissotel brands for $2.7 billion.
