Hotels group Accor’s shares rise on report of IHG merger interest

PARIS (Reuters) – Shares in French hotels group Accor rose 1.9% in early trading on Thursday after Le Figaro newspaper reported that the company had examined a potential merger with British rival InterContinental Hotels .

Le Figaro said that Accor’s management board was in favour of such a deal, though Accor chairman and CEO Sebastien Bazin was more cautious and no contact had been made with InterContinental Hotels.

An Accor spokeswoman, contacted by Reuters, said that the company does not comment on market rumours.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by David Goodman)