Club Med takeover could be delayed by six months

Alice Murray
25 July 2013

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

The purchase of listed French holiday resorts group Club Med will be delayed by several months thanks to an appeal by investment fund Charity & Investment Merger Arbitrage Fund (CIAM).

According to reports in the French press, CIAM filed to appeal the regulator's recent decision to approve Axa Private Equity and Fosun's joint bid for the holiday company on Wednesday.

However, it is thought that the application will not be reviewed until the end of summer.

CIAM is appealing the takeover because the conflicts of interests caused by the deal have not been explained. The issue lies in the large package of preferred shares awarded to management. CIAM bought up nearly 1% of Club Med shares in May following the announcement of the proposed takeover. Now they claim that the deal is unfair because they have not been offered the same treatment.

Despite Club Med's board of directors voting unanimously in favour of Axa and Fosun's bid at €17.50 per share, the offer is considered insufficient by minority shareholders. Yesterday, the holiday operator's share price was €17.51.