Hyatt Hotels has dropped its pursuit of NH Hotels after rival suitor Minor International revealed it controls 44 per cent of the Spanish group, according to news wire services.
“Based on the information we now have, we believe that the path to a successful tender offer by Hyatt under the terms expressed in our letter has narrowed to a point of being impractical,” Hyatt’s president and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said in the letter dated July 29 to the Spanish stock exchange by NH. Hyatt was angling for a cash bid of 100 per cent of NH, which operates more than 370 hotels worldwide.
Minor made an offer in June for all of NH. It already owns 29.8 per cent, with agreements in place to buy Chinese conglomerate HNA’s 8.4 per cent holding and Oceanwood Capital Management’s 5.7 per cent stakes.
NH said Minor’s offer, approved by Spanish and Portuguese competition watchdogs, undervalued the company. Hyatt wrote to NH last week saying it was interested in acquiring it, saying this would “powerfully shape the European hotel landscape”.
Dillip Rajakarier, Minor’s COO, gave a neat retort, telling Bloomberg: “Hyatt has entered the church and the bride has already left.”
Minor’s offer for the portion of NH Hotel it didn’t own was valued at US$1.92 billion) in early June, when the plans were first announced, according to Bloomberg.
Hyatt reiterated in the letter on July 29 that it believed Minor’s bid undervalued the company. If NH Hotel “wishes to open a dialogue with Hyatt to pursue other potential paths to unlock value for NH shareholders, we stand ready to do so,” it said.
