AccorHotels has begun exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of John Paul, the leading player in premium customer and employee loyalty services.

The hotel chain is seeking to acquire 80 per cent of the company for $150 million, with 20 per cent remaining in the hands of David Amsellem, the founder of the company who will remain as chief executive. 

After Wipolo, Oasis Collections, SquareBreak and onefinestay, the acquisition of John Paul, world leader in the customer loyalty and concierge markets marks a major new step in transforming AccorHotels into a travel companion providing innovative services to travelers at every step of their journey.

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.

AccorHotels chairman Sebastien Bazin explained: “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 customization 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 personalization 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.”

The first technology enabled concierge, equipped with a proprietary customer relationship management and data platform based on a behavioural profiling and a 360° personalisation, as well as a network of over 50,000 partners in more than 50 countries, the company offers the most exhaustive and global loyalty solutions to prestigious brands in the financial, automotive, travel, consumer, healthcare, pharma, luxury industries and more.

David Amsellem, chief executive, John Paul, declared: “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 personalized 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.”