Accor real estate arm in talks for French government-backed loan: media

PARIS (Reuters) – AccorInvest, the real estate arm of French hotel group Accor , is in talks with several banks over a 400 to 500 million euro ($544 million) government-guaranteed loan, according to BFM Business.

“Negotiations are well under way and should reach an outcome in the coming weeks”, the TV channel said on its website, quoting multiple sources.

In return for the loan, banks will ask AccorInvest to commit to rebalancing its accounts by the end of the year via a capital increase to be subscribed notably by Accor and by U.S. real estate and investment firm Colony Capital .

“There is no capital increase in the cards at this stage,” Accor said, without commenting whether its unit was negotiating a loan.

The government has introduced the guaranteed loan scheme as one of several measures to help businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis.

Consumer electronics retailer Fnac Darty became the first large company to tap it in mid-April, securing a 500 million euro loan.

France has rolled out a 110-billion-euro package to prop up the economy that also includes cash handouts for the smallest firms, tax and payroll charge deferrals and state-subsidised furloughs.

(Reporting by Blandine Henault and Sarah White; Writing by Benoit Van Overstraeten; editing by John Stonestreet)