CDL takeover offer for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels turns unconditional

Singapore

CITY Developments Limited (CDL) on Friday said its cash offer to acquire all the remaining shares in its London-listed subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) has been declared unconditional in all respects.

The delisting of M&C shares from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is expected to be effective on Oct 11.

As of 5pm London time on Sept 12, valid acceptances were received for 58.28 per cent of the M&C shares not already owned by CDL and its subsidiaries on June 7. This passes the 50 per cent threshold required to satisfy the acceptance condition. CDL parties already owned 65.2 per cent of M&C shares as at June 7.

The mainboard-listed property developer revived its takeover bid on June 7 with a higher cash offer of 685 pence (S$11.62) per share for the remaining 34.8 per cent stake in M&C, valuing the hotel chain at £2.23 billion (S$3.78 billion). The previous 620 pence bid in December 2017 was blocked by M&C's minority shareholders and lapsed in January 2018.

CDL's offer remains open for acceptance until 1pm London time on Sept 27.

In a filing to the LSE on Thursday, M&C said it will apply to cancel the listing and trading of its shares. After the delisting, it will be re-registered as a private company.

M&C shareholders who do not accept the offer may become minority shareholders in an unlisted private subsidiary of CDL with no certainty of any future opportunity to sell their shares, M&C said. The outgoing independent committee of M&C thus recommended that shareholders accept the offer immediately.

On Thursday, CDL advised its shareholders to refrain from taking any action in respect of their securities in the company which may be prejudicial to their interests, and to exercise caution when dealing in such shares or securities.

CDL shares closed at S$9.84 on Friday, up four cents or 0.41 per cent, after the announcements were made.