(Alliance News) - Budget hotel firm easyHotel PLC on Wednesday urged shareholders who have not already done so to accept the takeover bid for the firm.
In August, easyHotel accepted a GBP126.1 million bid from Ivanhoe Cambridge and largest shareholder ICAMAP, a real estate fund manager, which owned 38% of easyHotel at that time.
Some 68% of the company's share capital is already owned by the acquisition vehicle set up by the duo, and combined with 28% of the company being owned by easyGroup Holdings Ltd, easyHotel said just 4.1% of shares are held by other parties.
"The independent easyHotel directors are conscious liquidity in the easyHotel shares may now be very limited, and likely to remain so, and the offer enables easyHotel shareholders to realise in cash the value of their shareholdings at an attractive premium of 34.8% to the closing price of 70.5 pence for each easyHotel share on August 2, being the last business day before commencement of the offer period," said the company.
"Accordingly, easyHotel shareholders who have not yet accepted the offer are recommended to do so as soon as possible."
Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded the budget hotel chain, and various other companies, in the "easy group" in 2004 through easyGroup Holdings Ltd. He has "insisted" the firm remain a listed company, and has said his 28% stake will allow him to block any attempt to take easyHotel private.
Haji-Ioannou said on Tuesday this week: "While I applaud the ICAMAP/Ivanhoe's huge vote of confidence in easyHotel, I must repeat my insistence it remains a listed company on the London market. It is now clear easyGroup's 28% blocking minority stake and ICAMAP's low ball offer has made it impossible for easyHotel to be taken private.
"Therefore this exercise was an object lesson in pointlessness. By taking their stake from 38% to 68%, ICAMAP have achieved little other than to enrich lawyers and bankers to the tune of GBP1.5 million. What a colossal waste of money."
Shares were 1.6% higher on Wednesday at a price of 96.00 pence each.