MWB Group, the operator of the Hotel du Vin and Malmaison hotel chains, has announced that its offer for MWB Business Exchange, has been recommended, despite its sister company receiving a higher offer from Regus Ltd.
MWB Group said that Regus, the workspace rental company, had made an indicative cash offer of 92.36p per share for Business Exchange, which valued it at around £60m.
However, the workstations provider has rejected its rival’s offer in favour of recommending MWB Group’s offer for the existing 28% stake in the company it does not already hold, which values Exchange’s total existing share capital at around £32.7m.
In a statement, Business Exchange said that the indicative offer price “would not reflect the underlying fundamental value of Business Exchange in the long term”.
Eric Sanderson, MWB Business Exchange chairman, adds: "We are strongly of the view that the interests of the Business Exchange shareholders will be better served under the terms of the MWB Acquisition as we believe they will derive greater benefit from being part of a fully listed company with greater liquidity in its shares.
"In addition, not only will they continue to share in the longer term future of Business Exchange, which we regard as being particularly exciting, they will also participate in the anticipated growth of our award-winning boutique hotel businesses."
Last month, the MWB Group reported a widening of pre-tax loss for the final six months of 2010, as it felt the impact of the adverse weather and a “more competitive pricing environment”.
The company is currently in discussions with a number of parties regarding the sale and leaseback or outright sale of a number of its hotel assets, as it looks to reduce its debt levels.
It is also in negotiations with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, over the refinancing of £279m of debt secured against its Malmaison and Hotel du Vin chains.
