French hotel giant Accor has acquired 52 upscale and midmarket hotels from German-based Dorint.

The portfolio includes eight Sofitel sites, 17 Novotel hotels and 27 sites operating under the Mercure brand across Germany.

During 2006, the 52 hotels generated 300m euro (US$388m, £197m) in revenue and are expected to report pre-tax profits of around 10m euro (US$13m, £6.7m).

Accor already owned a 34 per cent stake in Dorint and took over the control of the company after buying an extra 52m euro (US$67m, £34m) worth of Dorint’s shares.

Gilles Pelisson, Accor’s chief executive, said: “We were ready to capitalise on our past partnership with Dorint. The company’s network of downtown locations and the consolidation of the Mercure sites will strengthen the presence of the Sofitel and Novotel brands in Germany.”

Accor currently owns and operates 4,000 hotels in 90 countries with a room capacity of 475,000. Details: www.accor.com