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Gates & Saudi Prince Want Four Seasons!
Not sure where else to post this interesting news. Isn't Four Seasons the company that has the Aviara timeshare resort?
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Gates and Alwaleed Link Up for Four Seasons Bid
November 6, 2006, 7:26 am
New York Times
Four Seasons Hotels said Monday it had received a management-led buyout offer valued at $3.7 billion. The buyout group includes Four Seasons chief executive and controlling shareholder Isadore Sharp; Kingdom Hotels International, a company owned by a trust created by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud; and Bill Gates’s Cascade Investment.
The deal calls for Four Seasons’ public shareholders to get $82 per share in cash, which represents a premium of about 28 percent above where the stock closed on Friday. The company’s New York-listed shares traded above $82 in early 2005 but have declined since then.
The holding company for the Sharp family, Triples Holdings, would keep its investment in the Toronto-based hotel group. After the buyout, it would own about 10 percent of the Four Seasons, with the rest split evenly between Kingdom and Cascade, the company said.
Mr. Sharp considered selling his hotel chain in the 1990’s. The Four Seasons hired Goldman Sachs in 1994 to seek potential buyers, but he called off the sale process later that year after Prince Alwaleed agreed to make in investment in the company.
In taking his company private, Mr. Sharp would reap a large windfall. According to the press release announcing the proposed transaction, he would be paid $288 million as part of a long-term incentive plan put in place in 1989.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gates and Alwaleed Link Up for Four Seasons Bid
November 6, 2006, 7:26 am
New York Times
Four Seasons Hotels said Monday it had received a management-led buyout offer valued at $3.7 billion. The buyout group includes Four Seasons chief executive and controlling shareholder Isadore Sharp; Kingdom Hotels International, a company owned by a trust created by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud; and Bill Gates’s Cascade Investment.
The deal calls for Four Seasons’ public shareholders to get $82 per share in cash, which represents a premium of about 28 percent above where the stock closed on Friday. The company’s New York-listed shares traded above $82 in early 2005 but have declined since then.
The holding company for the Sharp family, Triples Holdings, would keep its investment in the Toronto-based hotel group. After the buyout, it would own about 10 percent of the Four Seasons, with the rest split evenly between Kingdom and Cascade, the company said.
Mr. Sharp considered selling his hotel chain in the 1990’s. The Four Seasons hired Goldman Sachs in 1994 to seek potential buyers, but he called off the sale process later that year after Prince Alwaleed agreed to make in investment in the company.
In taking his company private, Mr. Sharp would reap a large windfall. According to the press release announcing the proposed transaction, he would be paid $288 million as part of a long-term incentive plan put in place in 1989.
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