AccorHotels has put pen to paper on an agreement to acquire Gekko, the hotel group announced Monday.
The transaction is valued at €100 million ($117.7 million).
Operating in France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, Gekko relies on its expertise and the latest technology to provide search and reservation solutions designed for business travelers.
The move is notable as business travelers represent AccorHotels' key customer segment.
Gekko boasts an interface connected to more than 500,000 hotels around the world and tools that allow travelers to manage online payments. The company's subsidiaries currently serve more than 300 corporate customers and 14,000 travel agencies.
Co-founders and executives Stephane de Laforcade and Olivier Delouis will continue to lead Gekko independently.
"AccorHotels' extensive global footprint, together with Gekko's technological leadership, today paves the way for the creation of a global leader in B-to-B hotel distribution," Thibault Viort, the group's Chief Disruption & Growth Officer, said in a statement.
"Since business travelers represent a key segment of the group's business, our capacity to respond to the specific requirements of this segment across the entire value chain is a factor that really sets us apart."
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"We are fully aligned on our B-to-B distribution strategy and AccorHotels' strong brand and reputation will provide us with additional resources and greater legitimacy in key international markets," added de Laforcade and Delouis in a statement of their own.
AccorHotels said it expects to begin benefiting financially from the acquisition in 2018.
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