Italian tycoon Andrea Bonomi has written to directors of his bid target Club Mediterranee (CMIP.PA) asking for updated financial information, a letter seen by Reuters shows, in a sign he still hopes to win control of the French holiday company.
The letter is dated Sept. 26, two weeks after Bonomi's bid was trumped by Gaillon Invest II, a takeover vehicle led by Chinese conglomerate Fosun (0656.HK) and its controlling shareholder, the Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang.
In the letter addressed to independent board members, Bonomi's Global Resorts asks whether Gaillon was provided with any additional or updated information to which Global Resorts did not have access.
Gaillon's 22-euro-a-share, 839 million euro ($1.06 billion) offer for the French vacation group made on Sept. 12 has been recommended by management and backed by Club Med's chairman, Henri Giscard d'Estaing, who will keep his job under the plan.
Global Resorts - whose 21 euro-a-share offer trumped a previous bid from the Gaillon team and would remove the existing management - has said it is considering its options.
Club Med said in a statement that "a strict compliance with equal treatment" between the bidders had always been ensured.
The letter from Global Resorts is addressed to Club Med headquarters in Paris, but is marked for the attention of a committee of independent directors, reminding the committee of its role ensuring "compliance with the principle of equality among bidders".
"In this respect we would like to know whether Gaillon Invest II, Fidelidade and/or the parties acting in concert with them have been given access to any additional or updated information other than those to which Global Resorts had access during its due diligence," it said.
Fidelidade is a Portuguese insurance company owned by Fosun.
The letter, also copied to markets regulator AMF, continued: "In any case, we would like to have the opportunity to review the information underlying the third-quarter results published by the company on Sept. 4."
Club Med shares have sat marginally above the offer price in the days since Gaillon's increased its offer. On Monday, the stock rose 0.4 percent to 22.49 euros.
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