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Several weeks after the Wall Street Journal reported the Minnesota-based Carlson corporation was rumored to be exploring a potential sale of its hotel business, Europe's AccorHotels and China's HNA Group have emerged as potential buyers.
Citing sources close to the situation, Bloomberg Business reported the two companies are considering submitting bids for the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.
The sources also told Bloomberg that a potential sale could be worth $2 billion and that a buyer could be chosen before the second half of 2016.
Nonetheless Carlson continues to explore other strategic altneratives for its hotel business, including a potential merger or partnership.
The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group currently operates more than 1,100 hotels around the globe under its various brands which include the Quorvus Collection, Radisson Hotels and Country Inns & Suites, among others.
Across all of its brands, the hotel group reported revenue of $7.3 billion in 2015.
If AccorHotels winds up with the winning bid it will signal the latest in a series of acquisitions made by the French hotel group. In December 2015, the Paris-based company agreed to acquire FRHI (Fairmont Raffles Hotels International) in a cash-and-share deal valued at just under $3 billion. One week earlier AccorHotels announced the purchase of three European hotel asset portfolios comprising 29 hotels in a transaction valued at $300 million.
Meanwhile, the purchase would also be a significant one for the HNA Group, which is currently Madrid, Spain-based hotel chain NH Hotel Group's largest shareholder.
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