With all the riches in the world, if a hotel chain takes your fancy, it sure makes the headlines. The investors who include the likes of Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal have joined forces with the Four Seasons Hotels’ CEO in a plan to take the hotel chain private for $3.7 billion, or $82 per share, in cash. The offer was made by Chairman and Chief Executive Mr.Isadore Sharp and Triples Holdings Limited, the controlling shareholder of Four Seasons, along with Kingdom Hotels International (a trust created by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud) and Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC. Triples, which is the Sharp family’s holding company, would keep its Four Seasons investment. If the deal goes through, then Triples would hold about 10 percent of Four Seasons’ shares through a separate class of special voting shares. The balance of the stock would be split equally between the Kingdom and Cascade. The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
If the deal closes, Sharp would receive $288 million in proceeds related to a long-term incentive agreement.
