Bill Gates and Prince Alwaleed, the billionaire Saudi investor, have teamed up with the head of Four Seasons Hotels in a $3.7 billion (€2.9 billion) bid to take the Toronto-based luxury hotel chain private.
The proposed deal would trigger a $288 million payment to Four Seasons chairman and chief executive Isadore Sharp, who opened the group's first hotel in 1960. The takeover was one of a wave of mergers and acquisitions, worth more than $15 billion, which took place in the US yesterday.
Mr Sharp (75) will remain as chairman and chief executive. His payment is based on a 1989 incentive plan that entitles him to a portion of the value created for shareholders since then.
Prince Alwaleed and Mr Gates are already major Four Seasons shareholders through their respective investment groups, Kingdom Hotels and Cascade Investment. Mr Sharp and his family control 65 per cent of the votes.
The two billionaires were reported by a Microsoft website monitor two years ago to have collaborated on plans to expand Microsoft's operation in Saudi Arabia and on Saudi humanitarian projects.
The three groups have offered $82 cash for each limited voting share, or a 28.4 per cent premium over Friday's close. The shares, listed in Toronto and New York, rose by about 30 per cent to slightly above the offer price.
- (Financial Times service)
