The board of directors of Accor SA (AC.FR) and the hotel group's Chief Executive Gilles Pelisson disagreed on how to accelerate the company's growth, notably on specific acquisition targets, a person close to the board told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

Pelisson "pushed specific acquisition projects," that the board didn't agree with, the person said. The two sides agreed on the company's strategy of focusing development through franchises but there was divergence on the issue of "how do we accelerate the group's growth," the person said.

Accor Wednesday said Pelisson will be replaced by Denis Hennequin who is Chief Executive of McDonald's Corp. (MCD) in Europe. Hennequin will take up the position on Jan 11, and in the interim Pelisson will continue to act as Chairman of the board of directors.

Pelisson and Accor were not immediately available for comment.

By Mimosa Spencer, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 40 17 1773; mimosa.spencer@dowjones.com