AccorHotels has begun exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of John Paul, one of the leading players in premium customer and employee loyalty services. The company’s Enterprise Value should be close to US$150 million i.e. a 2017e EV/EBITDA multiple of c. 11X. Accorhotels should acquire about 80 per cent of John Paul, the remaining stake being kept by David Amsellem, the founder of the company, who will remain as CEO.
After Wipolo, Oasis Collections, SquareBreak and onefinestay, the acquisition of John Paul marks a major new step in transforming AccorHotels into a travel companion providing innovative services to travellers at every step of their journey.
Sebastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels said, “The acquisition of John Paul enables us to accelerate our global strategy to position the customer experience at the very heart of our initiatives. Their expertise in customisation combined with a wide range of services and cutting-edge technology, gives us the opportunity to boost the value of the relationships with our guests and partners and multiply the number of touch points. It means a further solidification of our customer relation through an attractive offer and a higher usage, an increased personalisation of our services thanks to a deeper customer profiling with non-hotel driven information, and the strengthening of our CRM with affinity data. Through this partnership with the world leader in the growing concierge market, AccorHotels positions itself as the best provider of multi-nature services to guests, supporting the whole customer journey, from non-hotel offers to 24/07 assistance through an integrated and innovative solution.”
Founded in Paris in 2007, John Paul merged with LesConcierges in 2015, creating the world leader in loyalty services with a combined workforce of 1,000 highly skilled and trained people, across all five continents.
David Amsellem, CEO, Paul John said, “From inception, I founded John Paul deeply rooted with a passion for service and hospitality. My vision is that we can enhance the lives of millions of guests by delivering the highest personalised service. Over the past few years, John Paul has made a huge growth across industries. Now that we are the worldwide leader in premium loyalty solutions, we feel that we are at a tipping point in our venture and we need the empowerment of a strong leader to support the current traction. Entering the travel industry supported by AccorHotels means much more to the 1,000 people of the John Paul Group: we feel that combining our strengths will create a game changer in the industry.”
