The owner of Brighton's historic Grand Hotel has backed a multimillion pound takeover bid from the head of a leading property and hotels group.
Richard Balfour-Lynn, head of the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin groups, clinched a deal to buy De Vere, the owner of the Grand Hotel, after fighting off interest from private equity firm Permira.
It means two of Brighton's best known hotels, the Grand in Kings Road and Hotel du Vin in Ship Street, will be brought under shared ownership.
De Vere said the 825p-a-share offer from Mr Balfour-Lynn's privately owned investment firm Alternative Hotels Group (AHG) was "fair and reasonable" and "in the best interests of De Vere shareholders".
Permira said it was prepared to bid up to 840p a share for De Vere, which has 19 hotels including the Belfry golf and hotel complex but the bid was dismissed as too conditional.
The De Vere board said that subject to clearance from the Pensions Regulator, it would unanimously recommend the AHG bid to its shareholders.
The 825p-a-share bid represents a premium of 25 per cent on De Vere's average closing share price in the six months leading up to the offer and is marginally above the current level of 814.5p.
Mr Balfour-Lynn said: "We are delighted we have reached agreement with De Vere on the terms of the offer, which is at a significant premium to the share price prior to the recent bid speculation.
"De Vere is complementary to our existing hotel and conference business and we believe our considerable experience in leisure and property management will help develop the De Vere business."
Mr Balfour-Lynn is chief executive of Marylebone Warwick Balfour, which owns the five star Park Lane Marriott hotel as well as 15 Malmaison and Hotel du Vin hotels around the UK. It also runs the Liberty department store in London's Regent Street.
Mr Balfour-Lynn was one of the investors involved in the £325 million takeover of East Grinstead-based Rentokil Initial's conference venues in November.
De Vere also has a string of Village leisure hotels, the health and fitness brand Greens and the gin maker G&J Greenall.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
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