French hotel group Accor S.A. on Wednesday said it was dividing its hotel business in two in a bid to improve its performance and shareholder returns. Accor is Europe's largest hotel group. Accor's portfolio of hotel brands includes luxury hotel Sofitel and upscale apartments The Sebel, its website said. 

According to Reuters, Accor chief executive Sebastien Bazin announced that he was splitting the hotel group into a fee-oriented hotel operator and franchisor on one hand, and a hotel owner and investor on the other. Bazin told Reuters that he wants Accor to become the world's best-performing and best-value hotel group. Bazin is formerly Colony Capital LLC's head of European investing. 

However, Bazin did not disclose any targets under his plan. He said that targets previously set under a three-year revamp initiated by predecessor Denis Hennequin were no longer valid, the report said. 

Based on its 2012 annual report, Accor has over 3,500 hotels with a total of 450,000 rooms in 92 countries. It generated a revenue of EUR5.6 billion and a profit of 80 million last year.