Investor opposition ends $1.2 billion PPHE-Fattal hotel deal talks
PPHE-Fattal Takeover Proposal Collapses Amid Shareholder Resistance
Background of the Takeover Bid
June 19 (Reuters) - PPHE Hotel Group on Friday said a £920.9 million ($1.2 billion) takeover proposal from Israel's Fattal Hotel Group has fallen through after opposition from the Amsterdam-headquartered company's biggest shareholder, sending its shares down by a fifth.
Shareholder Opposition and Strategic Review
With a strategic review at PPHE still underway after seven months, top shareholder Euro Plaza Holdings, with a 33% stake, had opposed Fattal's bid, PPHE said, without elaborating on its concerns.
Market Reaction
PPHE's London-listed shares were the biggest faller on the FTSE mid-cap index, down 19.7% at £16 at 0820 GMT and bringing year-to-date losses to 10%.
Details of the Fattal Proposal
Fattal, which currently holds around 4% of PPHE and operates a portfolio of hotels across Europe and the Middle East, had proposed a possible cash takeover at £22 per share in May, which the Dutch firm said represented a fair value.
Fattal confirmed on Friday that it no longer intended to make a formal takeover offer for PPHE, which operates hotels under brands such as Park Plaza and art'otel.
Ongoing Strategic Review and New Proposals
PPHE, which recorded an 8% rise in first-quarter revenue on strong London demand and improved room rates, said it aimed to conclude its review "as expeditiously as possible", adding that it had received another preliminary proposal on May 31.
The company did not name the new bidder and cautioned that talks were in very early stages and the proposal was still being assessed.
Major Shareholders and Their Influence
PPHE launched its review in November, a week after Euro Plaza's Eli Papouchado and another investor Boris Ivesha, said they were willing to consider a partial sale of their stakes. The pair hold around a combined 44% of the voting rights in PPHE.
Ivesha did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately find contact details for Euro Plaza and Papouchado.
Additional Information
($1 = 0.7577 pounds)
(Reporting by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair, Kirsten Donovan)