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The owner of luxury brands Fairmont, Raffles, and Swiss?'tel is being taken over by French hospitality giant AccorHotels in a 2.9 billion dollar deal supported by investment from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The portfolio of FRHI includes 155 hotels and resorts - of which 40 are under development - and more than 56,000 rooms.

The agreement covers iconic properties such as Raffles Singapore, The Savoy in London and the Plaza Hotel in New York.

FRHI’s hotels and resorts span 34 countries across five continents, with 42 properties in North America, two South America, 26 in Europe, 17 in Africa/Middle East and 28 in Asia-Pacific.

More than 100 of the hotels are operated under long-term management contracts, with average remaining terms of nearly 30 years. Six hotels are leased and one is owned.

AccorHotels says it will become will one of the key global players in this segment with almost 500 luxury hotels.

AccorHotels aims to generate around €65 million in revenue and "cost synergies" with the combination of brands, the maximization of hotel earnings, the increased efficiency of marketing, sales and distribution channel initiatives, and the optimisation of support costs.

The agreement with Qatar Investment Authority and Kingdom Holding Company of Saudi Arabia provides for the cash payment of $840 million and the issuance of 46.7 million Accor shares.

The transaction will leave QIA and KHC respective stakes of 10.5% and