On 11 December, Jin Jiang made a 40 Swedish krona ($4.38) per-share offer for the remaining 49.79% of Radisson it does not currently own, a deal that values Radisson at 7 billion krona ($766.8 million).
In August, Jin Jiang bought the other 50.21% for 35 krona ($3.83) per share from fellow Chinese company HNA Group.
Knut Kleiven, Radisson Hospitality’s deputy president and CFO, said he was unaware of the offer until it was announced. In 2006, Kleiven successfully led the IPO process which resulted in Rezidor becoming a publicly listed company on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
“Of course, we knew that Jin Jiang had until the deadline of (11 December) to make an offer, or to sell down their ownership as per (Stockholm) stock exchange rules. (The stock exchange) is very clear on that,” Kleiven said. “And so then they came in with this offer, and at the same time it was also announced the timing of the acceptance period. It is now the job of our independent committee of the board of directors to recommend a course of action to shareholders.”
Kleiven said in April 2017, when the hotel company was known as Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, the board of directors recommended shareholders not accept a similar mandatory tender offer from HNA, which offered 34.86 krona ($3.82) per share for the 49.7% of Rezidor shares it did not own.
HNA ownership did not sit well with some shareholders, as was the case at NH Hotel Group, which subsequently was sold by HNA to Thailand’s Minor International.
On 20 February 2017, the board of Radisson—then Carlson Rezidor—recommended shareholders reject the full HNA bid, and in August of that year HNA ended its tender process.
A Radisson news release, which stated the company is evaluating the Jin Jiang offer, refers to a consortium of buyers led by Jin Jiang but also including “SINO-CEE Fund, through Aplite Holdings AB,” the same groups that purchased the August shares, an acquisition ratified at Radisson Hospitality’s general meeting held in Stockholm on 10 December.
That deal was finalized on 13 November. The acceptance period for the new offer will run between 7 January and 1 February, with Radisson due to comment on the deal no later than two weeks from the beginning of February.
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