MILLENNIUMand Copthorne Hotels has agreed to acquire the hotel interests of its major shareholder CDLHotels International for ú556m.
The purchase more than doubles Millennium and Copthorne’s portfolio to 67 hotels in Europe, America, Asia and Australia.
Millennium and Copthorne chief executive John Wilson said:”The acquisitions are of tremendous significance and are the realisation of a long-awaited opportunity. They offer us unprecedented entry into Asia markets which have been traditionally hard to penetrate and, at a time when we are seeing signs of recovery in the region, position us for further international growth.”
The two groups said there will be cost savings through synergies in sales and marketing, information technology, and global purchasing. The existing management of CDL will stay in place.
The purchase price includes the assumption of around ú120m in net debt. Around ú438m of the money will be raised through a rights issue.