29th May 2014 12:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - Marcato Capital Management LP, the San Francisco-based investment manager and InterContinental Hotels Group PLC shareholder, Thursday said the British hotels group should "explore the idea of a larger hotel group".
Sky News reported last weekend that InterContinental Hotels, the owner of the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn chains, had rejected a USD6 billion takeover bid from an unnamed US company for undervaluing the company. Sky News quoted analysts as saying the bid was likely to have come from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc or a specialist investment fund like Starwood Capital.
An InterContinental Hotels spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports of an approach or Marcato Capital's comments.
"Regardless of the veracity of these reports, we believe that a combination with a larger hotel operator would have compelling strategic and financial merit and represents a unique opportunity to reshape the global hospitality industry," Mick McGuire, founder and managing partner of Marcato, said in a statement.
"We strongly encourage Intercontinental Hotels Group's board of directors to explore such a combination and engage advisors to conduct a formal process to ensure it evaluates the full range of opportunities available to maximize value," McGuire added.
IHG shares were up 1.1% at 2,326.00 pence Thursday early afternoon.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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