French hotel group Accor in talks to buy Canada's FRHI: WSJ

(Reuters) - Europe's largest hotel group Accor SA is planning to buy Canada-based FRHI Hotels & Resorts for about $3 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources. The deal, which could be announced as early as next month, could still fall apart as the hotel giants did not reach any agreement yet, the newspaper said. FRHI, which operates luxury hotel brands like Fairmont, Raffles and Swisshotel, hired Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley to estimate the market value of the company, The WSJ said. Accor Hotels, which competes with InterContinental , Marriott and Starwood is undergoing a reorganization under CEO Sebastien Bazin who took the top post two years ago. The hotel is also regarded as the "preferred bidder" of four finalists for FRHI, the newspaper said. Accor and FRHI could not be reached immediately for a comment outside regular business hours. (Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool)