Accor SA shares fell sharply on Thursday, hitting their lowest closing level since October 2019 after a report from short-seller Grizzly Research alleged that dozens of hotels operating under the French hospitality group’s brands were willing to facilitate the transfer and accommodation of children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
At 06:58 ET (10:58 GMT), Accor traded at 37.89 in Paris, down 9.8% for the session, touching an intraday low of 37.59 on a traded volume of 1.24 million shares. Based on price history stretching back to March 2000, the close marked the stock's weakest level since October 2019 and left Accor down 24.9% from its 52-week high of 50.34, which was reached in January 2026.
The one-day decline ranks among the most severe in the company’s trading history, placing Wednesday’s move as the seventh-worst single-session drop across 26 years of available trading data. That ranking sits behind major market shocks, including the March 12, 2020 session when shares plunged 13.51%, and notable market events clustered around September 2001 and October 2008.
Grizzly Research, which disclosed holding a short position in Accor and therefore stands to benefit if the stock declines, said it sent undercover email inquiries to 249 hotels carrying Accor brands in 22 countries between February and March 2026.
According to the report's appendix, which the short-seller published alongside copies of correspondence, Grizzly framed 56 of its inquiries as requests to house girls aged 14 to 17 described as orphans from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, each accompanied by an unrelated adult. Of those 56 respondents, 45 properties accepted the bookings, an acceptance rate Grizzly reported as 80.4%.
In a separate set of undercover messages that Grizzly says used language strongly suggestive of child sexual exploitation, several hotels issued formal booking confirmations. The short-seller's published email records cite examples including Mercure Hurghada in Egypt and M f6venpick Resort Waverly Phu Quoc in Vietnam.
Grizzly's documentation also points to responses from some Russian properties operating under Accor brands. The report identifies ibis Cheboksary and Mercure Rostov-on-Don among those properties and records employees explicitly stating they would not inform Accor's Paris headquarters. In the Rostov-on-Don correspondence, an employee wrote that communication or information exchange with the French office was absent.
Alongside its investigative findings, Grizzly Research published a legal memorandum dated March 13, 2026. That memorandum stated Accor could face civil liability under France's 2017 duty of vigilance law if courts find that the company’s compliance framework was not properly implemented.
In addition, Grizzly cited a separate legal opinion by Tamar Ruseishvili, an international lawyer with an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, which said that if the alleged conduct were substantiated it could engage international humanitarian law, the Palermo Protocol on trafficking, and international criminal law.
Accor operates more than 5,600 hotels across 110 countries under brands that include Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, ibis, Fairmont and Raffles. The group publicly promotes a WATCH programme developed with the child protection NGO ECPAT International as a measure to guard against child exploitation.
Summary of events
- Short-seller Grizzly Research published undercover email findings alleging widespread willingness among Accor-branded hotels to accommodate transfers of minors from occupied Ukrainian regions.
- Accor's shares dropped to 37.89 at 06:58 ET (10:58 GMT), down 9.8%, with an intraday low of 37.59 and volume of 1.24 million shares.
- A legal memorandum and a separate legal opinion accompanied the report, suggesting potential civil and international legal exposures if allegations are proven.
Context on compliance and scale
The Grizzly report included an appendix of correspondence it said supported its findings and documented responses from properties across multiple regions. The alleged responses, the short-seller asserts, ranged from formal booking confirmations to explicit statements that local hotels would not communicate suspected instances to Accor's central office.
Accor's global footprint e2 80 94 more than 5,600 hotels in 110 countries e2 80 94 means any legal or reputational fallout would have broad geographic scope. The company promotes an industry-focused child protection programme developed with an NGO, which it presents as a countermeasure against the very harms cited in the report.
Note on coverage: The article reports the contents of the short-seller's publication and the legal opinions that accompanied it. It records Accor's market reaction and the specific figures and correspondence cited by Grizzly Research.