Travel Keys, a modest player in the vacation rental sector, is to join the portfolio of alternative accommodation services at AccorHotels.
"Exclusive negotiations" are underway for Accor to buy the US-based Travel Keys, with a deal expected to close by June this year for an as-yet undisclosed fee.
The company has 7,000 properties in what it calls the "luxury villa" end of the rental market, available in more than 90 countries.
Its core regions are the Caribbean, Central America and the US.
Accor is touting the deal as a logical fit for its expanding up-scale private rental business, following a series of investments and an acquisition during 2016.
Accor CEO and chairman Sebastien Bazin says:
"They [Travel Keys] have built a very robust business over the years that will be instrumental in our strategy to create the number one luxury private rental player in the world.
"This acquisition further demonstrates our agility and dynamic approach to offer comprehensive services to our clients."
Accor splashed out €148 million on urban rental service OneFineStay in April last year (with a commitment to investing a further $70 million to expand the business internationally).
The hotel operator took a 49% stake in Squarebreak, an online company with upscale properties across France, Spain and Morocco, as well as a 30% stake in Oasis Collections which offers leisure and corporate rentals across the US, Europe and Latin America.
Travel Keys was formed in 1991 and claims all its properties are personally inspected before being made available for rent to travellers.