(Deal Reporter)
Club Med could re-IPO in five to seven years if Gaillon II delists company Club Med could re-IPO in five to seven years if the offer launched by a Fosun [HKG:0656]-led investment vehicle results in a delisting of the company, two sources said.
The EUR 24.6 per share tender offer is set to run until 9 February. The French leisure company is trading today at EUR 24.54 per share.
A third source said that the bidders, organised under the Gaillon II holding company, were cautiously optimistic on the outcome of the offer and that there was a chance the company could delist. The offer is almost twice the EUR 13 per share price that the shares were trading at before the initial offer was filed in May 2013.
Fosun consortium said it intends to delist Club Med if it were to reach 95% acceptances, according to the offer document.
While it wasn’t necessarily the case that the company would re-IPO, the contract signed by the bidding group allows for the shareholders to exit in the medium term, the third source explained. In these contracts there is a strict commitment not to list the company in the next 12 months, he added.
In any case, Fosun was committed to staying as a shareholder for the long term, the source said.
Club Med will need to develop further in emerging markets before it can be re-listed, the first source said. A re-listing would likely take place in France as well as Brazil or China, he added.
Following the conclusion of the offer, the bidder is looking to push for growth in developing countries such as China, Brazil, Russia and South East Asia.
The bidding group that includes Fosun, Fidelidade, U-tour, Ardian and senior Club Med management already holds 22.99% of the company’s shares and 28.66% of the voting rights.
A rival bidder to Fosun that has now dropped out of the race, Global Resorts, previously said that it would either tender to the offer or sell its 18.9% stake in Club Med on the market.