Rezidor SAS Hospitality, the Brussels-based wholly-owned subsidiary of the SAS Group, today jointly announced with US-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide, that they have signed an agreement which results in an enhancement of their long-time franchise partnership into a shareholder agreement.

The basis of the agreement will see Carlson Hotels acquire a 25 percent shareholding in Rezidor SAS from SAS Group in return for renegotiated commercial terms of the parties’ current Master Franchise Agreement (MFA). The MFA is the agreement between Rezidor SAS and Carlson by which Rezidor manages Carlson Hotel brands in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). These brands have included Radisson SAS, Park Inn, Regent International Hotels and Country Inns & Suites.

Rezidor SAS first signed an agreement with Carlson in 1994 for the first class Radisson brand. The combined brand, Radisson SAS, that was created from that MFA has been the vehicle that has turned Rezidor SAS into one of the fastest growing hotel management companies in the world today.

The success of this initial Radisson SAS partnership then led to Rezidor SAS and Carlson signing a further multi-brand MFA agreement in 2002 that added three other Carlson brands to the Rezidor SAS portfolio – Regent, Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites. This has proved to be another sparkling success story that has seen the high volume mid-market brand Park Inn, grow from zero to over 60 properties in just two years in the EMEA region; while also facilitating the re-launch of the luxury brand Regent, with Rezidor SAS adding two new landmark hotels, in Berlin and Zagreb, to the global Regent portfolio.

As a result Rezidor SAS has grown from 29 Radisson SAS hotels, when the original agreement was signed in 1994, to now having in total 245 hotels open or under development.

This new deal, which is pending regulatory approval and is expected to take place in the first half of 2005, has an option for Rezidor SAS to use the Carlson brands to 2052, an increase of twenty years on the previous agreement. It will now bring the two companies even closer together and allow for stronger brand alignment on a global basis.

“Carlson Hotels Worldwide is a strategic partner within the global hospitality sector for Rezidor SAS. The SAS Group will maintain the majority holding and control over Rezidor SAS, while also strengthening the strategic business platform. It will bring additional scale and profitability to Rezidor SAS and further enhance its development opportunities,” said Mr. Gunnar Reitan, Executive Vice President and Deputy CEO of the SAS Group and Chairman of Rezidor SAS.”

Mr. Curtis Nelson, President of Carlson Companies, parent company of Carlson Hotels Worldwide, said: “We are pleased to announce this important...