SM Investments Corp., a listed holding company led by shopping mall magnate Henry Sy Sr., has tapped European hotel operator Accor to run its P2.8-billion hotel in Mactan, Cebu.

SM Investments, through its Hotel Investment Group, and Accor signed a management contract Tuesday.

The five-star hotel has 400 rooms and is carries the Sofitel brand. It is expected to open by December 2008.

“We welcome this partnership with Accor to operate Sofitel Cebu as a major step in SM’s bid to invest in the Philippine hotel and tourism business,” said Merril Yu, senior vice president of SM Investments’ Hotel Investment Group.

Accor is a leading tourism establishment in Europe. It operates over 3,800 hotels with 450,000 rooms in 90 countries. Its hotel chains are known worldwide, as Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel and All Seasons.

Yu said the Hotel Investment Group is positioned as a progressive development group that will optimize multiple investment vehicles in travel and tourism and consequently, add value to SM Investments’ existing businesses.

Apart from the Sofitel Cebu, it also owns the landmark Taal Vista Hotel in Batangas, which is being expanded into a 260-room hotel by November 2008, from 128 rooms. The P650-million expansion also includes a new 1,000-seat grand ballroom and six meeting rooms.

Other hotel projects in the pipeline are two hotels in SM BayCity that includes the recently announced Microtel project; a hotel in Hamilo Coast; and boutique hotels in selected sites in Luzon and the Visayas.

SM Investments Corp., a listed holding company led by shopping mall magnate Henry Sy Sr., has tapped European hotel operator Accor to run its P2.8-billion hotel in Mactan, Cebu.

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The project offers bold guarantees for delays in the turnover of units and depreciation of the property.

This has reference to Securities and Exchange Commission’s  (SEC) authority or power to suspend, or revoke, after proper notice and hearing, the franchise or certificate of registration of corporations, partnerships or associations upon any of the grounds provided by law. (See: Section5 (m) of the Securities Regulation Code of 2000 (SRC.)