UPDATE: Accor Replaces CEO Gilles Pelisson Following 'Divergence'

The board of French hotels company Accor SA (AC.FR) Wednesday said it is replacing its Chief Executive Gilles Pelisson, who oversaw the company's split from its vouchers business, with Denis Hennequin, Chief Executive of McDonald's Corp. (MCD) in Europe following "strategic divergences" between the board and Pelisson.

Over the past 5 years at the helm of Accor, the company behind the Motel6 budget chain in the U.S., Sofitel luxury hotels and the Novotel brand, Pelisson has restructured the company by selling off non-core assets and hotel properties, replacing them with long-term leases, and separating the highly cash-generative vouchers business into a separately listed company, Edenred (EDEN.FR).

But at a board meeting Tuesday, the board and Pelisson "recognized the strategic divergences between them, leading them to organize the departure of Gilles Pelisson," the company said in a statement. Pelisson was not immediately available to comment.

Accor's 11-member board includes four representatives of its key shareholders, the U.S. private equity firm Colony Capital and European investment company Eurazeo (RF.FR).

Under Hennequin's direction, Accor will move into "a new phase in its development, during which the definition of priorities and their execution will be key factors in its success," the board said in its statement.

Hennequin will take up the new position on Jan 11.

Accor earlier this month increased its profit target for the year after third quarter sales showed improved business in its more expensive hotels in Europe. Along with other hotel groups that were hit hard by the crisis, the company is starting to see an uptick in business. Visibility remains low for the industry, however, as clients wait until the last minute to make reservations, and Accor's optimism for the end of the year thus far does not extend into next year.

Accor last month withdrew plans to list its 49% stake in the French casino operator Groupe Lucien Barriere because of a lack of investor interest. The plans are part of the company's efforts to reduce debt as it no longer has the vouchers division which was traditionally used to fund hotel expansion.

Shares in the company have risen nearly 16% over the past three months, outpacing a 3% rise in the Paris CAC-40-index on expectations for a bounce-back in the sector. The hotels sector was badly affected by the economic crisis as businesses cut back on employee travel and the sector has lagged others in improving.

Accor shares closed at EUR26.69 Tuesday.

By Mimosa Spencer, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]