A silica-supported zirconium based solid acid (ZS) has been used as catalyst for the Fries rearrangement of phenyl acetate (PA). The catalyst showed a higher PA conversion activity and a much higher selectivity for o-hydroxyacetophenone (o-HAP) than for strongly acidic zeolite catalysts. The supported catalyst was characterized by XRD, IR, XPS, pyridine-TPD and the surface area measurements. The catalytic properties were influenced significantly by pretreatment temperature.