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French Hotelier Accor Is Said to Weigh SPAC Listing This Year

French Hotelier Accor Is Said to Weigh SPAC Listing This Year

French hotel company Accor SA is weighing listing a special purpose acquisition company that could target a deal in sectors including lifestyle and leisure, according to people familiar with the matter.

Accor is speaking with advisers about listing a SPAC in Europe as soon as this year, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details aren’t public. Accor is considering raising 200 million euros ($244 million) to 300 million euros, one of the people said.

Deliberations are ongoing and the size of the SPAC will be determined by investor appetite, according to the people. A representative for Accor declined to comment.

SPACs, also known as blank-check companies, are finding it harder to attract investors in the U.S. and Europe amid increased regulatory scrutiny of the sector and broader market volatility. Company-backed SPACs are rare but American firms including Post Holdings Inc. have announced such listings this year.

“Travel-exposed leisure companies that hoarded cash through the pandemic may gain confidence in the return on capital on offer once the recovery is fully underway,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Conroy Gaynor wrote earlier this month.

“Whitbread and Accor have shown an appetite for small- to medium-sized M&A in hotels, with strong enough balance sheets to seize strategic or distressed assets,” Gaynor wrote in a May 13 research note.

Shares of Accor have risen about 45% in the last 12 months, giving it a market value of 8.3 billion euros.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.