News of a preliminary 552.5p cash offer by City Developments for the remaining stake it doesn’t already own in hotel group Millennium & Copthorne (MLC) sent shares in the public company up 22 per cent. That takes the current share price north of the offer price, effectively baking in the 21.4 per cent premium currently on the table, relative to Milliennium & Copthorne's (M&C) closing position on Friday.
City Developments is part of the Hong Leong Group – also owned by M&C’s chairman, Singaporean billionaire Kwek Leng Beng. It’s said M&C directors consider the terms of the offer to be “fair and reasonable”, although a firm offer doesn’t need to be agreed until 6 November.
At the time of full-year numbers in February, construction and refurbishments held back growth in the US and growing competition was a thorn in the side of the Singapore business. However, at the interim stage in early August a surge in pound-hungry tourists to Britain helped revenue per available room (RevPAR) in London to accelerate considerably.
