Bidders aim to list Club Med in Hong Kong and Brazil
Fosun International and its partners bidding to take control of Club Méditerranée intend to list the French holiday group in Hong Kong and Brazil to raise funds worth hundreds of millions of euros.
Fosun, China’s largest privately held conglomerate, and its partners would use the new listings to help fund an ambitious investment programme, allowing one of the biggest brands in global tourism to expand in emerging markets such as China, Latin America and Russia.
“We intend to raise new capital in Hong Kong and São Paulo,” Nelson Tanure, the Brazilian investor, told the FT on Tuesday. Mr Tanure is a partner in Fosun’s Gaillon Invest II special-purpose vehicle.
The plans come as Gaillon is locked in a ferocious battle with Italian investor Andrea Bonomi for control of Club Med in what has now become the longest takeover struggle in French history.
Mr Tanure, who joined Fosun’s bid as a minority partner, said that Gaillon was gearing up to outbid Mr Bonomi yet again. “We are going with a new offer,” Mr Tanure said.
Mr Tanure, who has interests in oil and gas, telecoms and real estate in Brazil, said that Gaillon would look to retain a 51 per cent stake in the French holiday group following the planned listings. He confirmed that the group would also keep Club Med listed on the Paris stock market.
On Friday, Mr Bonomi and his partners, which include US private equity firm KKR, said they would offer €24 per share for Club Med, valuing the company at €915m. That came just four days after Gaillon had improved its own offer to €23.50.
Mr Bonomi said that he would take the specialist in all-inclusive getaways private so as to allow time to implement his investment strategy. “Club Med needs a period of calm,” he told a press conference.
Mr Tanure said that Fosun, whose partners include Club Med management, was in discussions with two new partners that were looking to join the Gaillon Invest II vehicle — though he did not give details.
Gaillon has rejected the tactic of making a substantial single increase in its offer in the hope of dissuading Mr Bonomi and his Global Resorts vehicle from bidding again.
Instead, it has decided to continue to bid incrementally. France’s stock market authority, the AMF, has said that any new bids must be at least 2 per cent higher than the €24 per share offer made by Mr Bonomi.
Gaillon Invest II has also decided to take its time presenting a new offer. It has until December 19 to do so, and is likely to delay presenting an offer until that date — or near it. “We are not going to lose this deal,” Mr Tanure said.