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Marriott to buy African hotel chain
Marriott International is to buy African hotel chain Protea.
Protea has 116 hotels in seven African countries including South Africa.
Its brands include Protea Hotels and African Pride Hotels, Lodges and Country Houses.
After the purchase, Marriott claims it will become the largest hotel company in the Middle East and Africa, almost doubling its distribution in the region to more than 23,000 rooms.
The deal includes the creation of a property ownership company by Protea, which will allow it to keep ownership of the hotels it currently owns.
It will enter long-term management and lease agreements with Marriott for the hotels.
The transaction, which requires third party and governmental consents, is due to close on April 1.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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