After announcing its entry into the Swiss market at the beginning of October, with a hotel expected to open in Zurich, the French chain B&B Hôtels is continuing its growth in Europe with the acquisition of the 15 hotels of the Sidorme group, with which B&B was already a partner through a cross-promotion agreement. Launched in 2006, Sidorme offers budget hotels at very low prices, similar to the 'econochic' concept developed by B&B, with a touch of design added to the fundamentals.
This means that 1,367 rooms will be added to the four existing establishments, the result of the acquisition in 2015 of former Holiday Inn Express properties in Madrid, Girona, Alicante and Valencia. These 15 hotels will strengthen B&B's presence in the regions of Madrid, Castilla, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia and the Basque Country.
"This acquisition is part of our ongoing international development and our ambition to become, in the long term, an undisputed leader in the budget hotel sector", says Georges Sampeur, Chairman of the Management Board of Groupe B&B Hôtels. B&B was acquired by the Carlyle investment fund last March and is now owned by another fund, PAI Partners. Its ambition is to rapidly reach the 400 hotels mark, compared with the current figure of 370. Present in France (252 hotels), Germany (85), Italy (23), Poland (5), as well as Morocco (1) and the Czech Republic (1), the French hotelier intends to conquer new markets. In addition to Switzerland, B&B will soon be expanding into the Benelux countries, Austria and Portugal, as well as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
