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Italian outbids Chinese for France's Club Med

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Italian outbids Chinese for France's Club Med
Italian businessman Andrea Bonomi had made an improved offer for Club Med. Stephane De Sakutin/AFP

A long battle to control French holiday firm Club Med took another turn on Tuesday after the French stock market authority announced Italian businessman Andrea Bonomi had made an improved offer.

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Bonomi has been locked in a dragged-out fight with Chinese conglomerate Fosun and its partners over Club Med, which is coveted for its potential to appeal to new middle classes in emerging economies.

In a statement, the AMF announced that Bonomi is now offering €23 a share, which values the company at €874 million ($1.1 billion).

The offer is bigger than the Fosun bid -- worth €839 million -- which the board of directors of the French holiday firm unanimously recommended last month.

It is also much larger than an offer previously made by Bonomi.

According to a source close to the situation, US private equity giant KKR is in talks to be a small co-investor alongside Bonomi.

Club Med first became a high-profile name in the European tourism industry because it offered holidays in hippy-style villages where sports activities were included.

It has since moved up-market, weathering financial storms in the process, and is now looking for further expansion, including in China where it has been a partner with Fosun.

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