The hotel group separates from Paris Society, the company of festive and nocturnal establishments, only three years after having bought it. Its historic founder Laurent de Gourcuff today acquires 70% of the capital and the spirits group Pernod Ricard becomes a minority shareholder at 30%.
The ambition is clear: to become the leader of the night in France. Maxim’s, Bonnie, Baronne, Gigi, Laurent, Giraffe, Apicius, Mister Blue, Beau Coco, Louie, Parruche, Le Piaf… So many ultra trendy and lively restaurants. Known for their tasty menu, their highly instagramable decoration and their festive atmosphere, these 23 establishments under the aegis of the Paris Society have become unmissable on the tricolor night scene, attracting the whole of Paris and foreigners in search of chic and trendy addresses.
Accor is repositioning
With these three lucrative pillars, these tables continue to develop or reinvent themselves for a few years. « If restaurants are more gourmet than gastronomic, it’s because the clientele of the Paris Society is above all looking for an atmosphere and an extraordinary place », explained its founder Laurent de Gourcuff in 2023. It is moreover what encouraged the Accor group to invest in this firm in 2022. Today, the company seems to want to focus on its hotel and gastronomic branch, abandoning these nocturnal activities.
A strategic repositioning for the travel specialist having opened 293 hotels in 2024, with a target of 1,200 openings between 2023 and 2027. Accor has 45 brands divided into several categories, such as the luxurious Orient Express, Fairmont and Raffles; the premium with Pullman and Mövenpick; and the mid-range and budget Novotel, Mercure or Ibis. In 2024, the Accor group recorded a global turnover of 5,606 million euros, representing a growth of +11% compared to 2023. Its luxury and lifestyle division particularly stood out with a 19% increase in revenue.
Laurent de Gourcuff and the group Pernod Ricard
The elegant and select nightlife promoted by Paris Society thus goes to its founder and director Laurent de Gourcuff who, by buying the shares of Accor, now owns 70% of the company. In 2021, just before the takeover, he declared to Echos Entrepreneurs: «Accor brings us size, network and solidity by giving us a free hand. The best of both worlds”.
Today, the businessman will reign alone in the world of the night but also, according to information from the magazine Challenges, launch a new group with a name still unknown. The amount of the sale would be 43 million euros, plus 37 million euros of debt, for a total estimated at about 80 million euros.
Majority shareholder certainly, but Laurent de Gourcuff counts among his investors the spirits group Pernod Ricard, which holds 30% of the capital of Paris Society. This minority stake allows the firm (Mumm, Perrier-Jouët, Absolut, Ricard, Pastis 51, Suze…) to diversify its activities by directly targeting the consumption places of its customers, but also to showcase its own products. At a time when the global volume of spirits dropped by -2% in 2024 according to IWSR, and when the group recorded a decrease in organic growth of -1% to 11.6 billion euros, this investment incorporates a differentiation strategy, betting on the solid financial health of Paris Society.
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Featured photo: © Bonnie
