Club Méditerranée’s buyout offer from two of its top shareholders, Fosun International and AXA Private Equity, is in jeopardy after a consortium led by Andrea Bonomi’s Investindustrial has put forward a new offer.
While the bid from Fosun and AXA Private Equity has won the support of Club Med’s board of directors, Global Resorts is offering Club Méditerranée, Paris, a hostile takeover bid of €21 (US$28.74) per share. Fosun and AXA offered €17.50 (US$23.95) per share, for a total of €556 million (US$761 million), in their May 2013 offer for Club Med. Investindustrial controls 90% of Global Resorts, while the remainder is held by Sol Kerzner, PortAventura and GP Investments.
Through investment vehicles Bonomi is currently Club Med’s largest shareholder at 10%. Bonomi has criticized Fosun and AXA Private Equity’s strategy of reorienting the company away from the European consumer to the Chinese consumer, instead proposing additional investments of €150 million (US$205 million) to take advantage of tourism growth in Europe and Latin America.