Marriott International set to acquire Protea Hotels
PROTEA Hotels, one of South Africa’s biggest and most successful hotel operators, is being acquired by Marriott International, the US’s largest publicly traded hotel chain.Analysts expect the mooted acquisition to "shake up" the three-star and four-star hotel market in SA, while also giving Marriott’s Africa growth plans a major lift.Marriott said last night it had signed a letter of intent with Cape Town-based Protea Hospitality Holdings to acquire Protea Hotels’ brands and management business.Protea Hotels operates or franchises 116 hotels with 10,184 rooms in South Africa and six other sub-Saharan African countries. Protea’s brands include Protea Hotel Fire & Ice, African Pride Hotels and Protea, its largest brand.The transaction, for an undisclosed sum, would nearly double Marriott’s African footprint to more than 23,000 rooms at a time when major global chains are looking to substantially ramp up their exposure to the continent.Marriott’s brands include Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriot...
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