page_title: Pierre & Vacances
section_title: Acquisitions
hierarchical_section_title: Pierre & Vacances / History / Acquisitions
caption_attribution_description: English: Location of Pierre &amp; Vacances Center Parks facilities in 2012
context_page_description: Groupe Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs specializes in tourism services, providing holiday and entertainment villages, leisure activity residences and hotels under the brands Pierre & Vacances, Maeva, Center Parcs, Sunparks, and Adagio. The headquarters of the company is in France and the core area of the company's activities is France, but it also has facilities in Belgium, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy and Spain.
context_section_description: In 1988, Pierre & Vacances started to acquire rival companies. The first purchases included Geer (developments Cap Esterel, Les Coches and Port-Bourgenay on the Mediterranean Sea) and Sogerva and Port du Crouesty (facilities on the Atlantic coast).
  Pierre & Vacances emerged relatively unscathed from economic crisis in the 1990s, and accelerated its expansion by purchasing struggling rivals such as Société des Montagnes de l'Arc (1993), Rocher Soleil (1996) Sofap Loisirs and Pont-Royal (1997). Pont-Royal was a key piece in the company's growth, because it had been granted by the French State to construct over 20,000 square metres in the Provence region.
  The company quickly adapted to the new market demands. In 1998, it launched the "eco-village" in the Picardy region and opened its first facilities outside France, in Martinique and Guadeloupe. Pierre & Vacances became a holding company, gathering all its subsidiaries under its name.
  In 1999, Pierre & Vacances was listed on the Paris stock exchange. In March of that year, it purchased the resort chain Orion from Whitehall et Westmont Hospitality. Then, it entered into a joint venture with Beni Stabili with the aim of purchasing properties in Italy. In April 2000, Pierre & Vacances acquired Grand Dorado (later renamed Center Parcs), one of the leading companies in the Benelux's tourism accommodation market. In March 2001, in a joint venture with Deutsche Bank, it acquired Center Parcs Europe, a large resort parks company. In July 2001, it acquired the ski resort operations of Groupe Washington at the Valmoral resort and, in September of that year, Club Méditerranée's Maeva SA. This operation made Pierre & Vacances the leader in the French market. In 2002, the Italian company Valtur was added to Pierre & Vacances' portfolio. In 2003, the Pierre & Vacances' holding became the sole owner of Central Parcs.
  In 2007, Pierre & Vacances and Accor formed a joint venture to create a new company, called Adagio, with the aim of developing city residences in Europe. That year it also acquired a real estate development company focused on Mediterranean style villages for elderly people (Les Senioriales SA) and the Sunparks Group.
  In 2009, the name was changed from "Groupe Pierre & Vacances" to "Groupe Pierre & Vacances Central Parcs".
caption: Location of the Groupe Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs' facilities in 2012.
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