Accor North America announced its intent to seek a long-term partner in expanding its luxury Sofitel hotel brand. Currently, Accor operates 11 Sofitel hotels in North America.

ANA will also pursue the sale of a majority interest in a portfolio of six Sofitel hotels located in major metropolitan markets throughout the U.S. ANA will maintain an interest in the Portfolio through a joint venture relationship. The hotels will continue to operate under the Sofitel brand and the hotels` employees will remain employed by Accor. Morgan Stanley has been retained to assist with the transaction.

The six hotels include: Chicago Water Tower, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco Bay and Washington. The remaining Sofitel hotels -- Chicago O`Hare, Houston, New York, Philadelphia and Montreal, Canada -- will retain their current ownership and management structure.

For our customers, vendors and employees, this partnership will be a seamless transition that will allow us to significantly accelerate the presence of Sofitel throughout North America, said Georges Le Mener, president and CEO of ANA.

Additionally, to aid the growth of Sofitel, Accor announced the appointment of Colin McDonald, formerly of Four Seasons, to the position of vice president of development for Sofitel North America.