Club Med bidder Investindustrial conducts due diligence advised by Lazard; Bonomi asks for stay of execution
Club Med suitor Investindustrial, the private-equity vehicle of Italian tycoon Andrea Bonomi, has engaged Lazard as a bid adviser, The Times reported. According to a person familiar with the situation, Bonomi appears “deadly serious” as he is investing significant time and capital in conducting a due diligence process on the France-based listed leisure group, the report said.
Bonomi is considering an offer which could be worth EUR 750m, and has until the month-end to table a bid rivalling an agreed EUR 700m offer from Hong Kong-listed Fosun International and Axa Private Equity, the item reported. It noted that Fosun and Axa together control close to 20% of Club Med, while Bonomi owns 11% through Strategic Holdings.
As well as Lazard, Bonomi is being advised by McKinsey, KPMG and CBRE, the report said.
Another report from daily Les Echos said that Bonomi has asked the French courts for stay of execution concerning the deadline requested by French stock market regulator AMF. Bonomi has indeed until 30 June to put up a counter-bid for Club Med or shut up. According to French daily Le Figaro, the court is meeting on 2 July to examine the request made by Bonomi.
According to the report, Bonomi bring the file before the courts could be seen as a hint that the Italian financier does not plan to make an offer for Club Med, all the more so that the EUR 17.50 per share tender offer launched by Fosun and Ardian (formerly known as Axa Private Equity) is likely to fail.
AMF and people close to Bonomi did not comment the news.
Source The Times (London), Les Echos, Le Figaro