Originally Posted by
Camflyer
The biggest problem with this merger would be getting it through the competition authorities as it would make them the biggest hotel chain in the world in terms of properties so it is inevitable some would have to be sold off. There would also have to be a rationalisation of the brands as they would have far too many of them.
It's a good point. Competition policy might be an issue in select countries.
HOWEVER: I don't believe the combined number of hotels is something the authorities would look at closely. For obvious reasons, the number of available rooms is a much better metric than number of properties. And potentially, something involving revenue may be yet another important metric.
What's my point? Accor and IHG both have many properties. But their properties tend to be smaller than those of the biggest players. By revenue, the biggest chain is Marriott which is followed by Hilton which is followed by Wyndham. Accor is number 4, IHG number 5.
Accor's biggest brands (ibis, ibis styles, Mercure etc.) and IHG's biggest brands (HIX, HI) tend to have fewer rooms per property than Mariott's and Hilton's biggest and most important brands.
Bottom line: The number of properties is not a good indicator of market share. I haven't looked at the numbers yet. At this stage, though, it's not obvious to me a combined Accor + IHG would have a market share so large that the merger is a big no-no for antitrust authorities.