dal sito nh hoteles
NH HOTELES, BANCA INTESA AND JOKER
SUBMIT THE PROSPECTUS TO TAKE OVER THE
MINORITY HOLDINGS IN JOLLY HOTELS
· Grande Jolly is going to make a Takeover Bid for the 25.6% of Jolly Hotels
held by minority shareholders
· The outlay, in the event that all the shares for which the Bid is being made
take up the offer, will total €127.6m
· Grande Jolly has submitted the prospectus for the Takeover Bid to
CONSOB (the body that governs the securities market in Italy) for
approval
· The Italian competition authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e
del Mercato) recently gave its permission for the company set up by NH
Hoteles, Banca Intesa and Joker to take over control of Jolly
Madrid, February 21th 2007.- Grande Jolly, in which NH Hoteles has a majority holding, has submitted
the prospectus for a Takeover Bid for the shares of Jolly Hotels held by minority shareholders to the
CONSOB (the body that governs the securities market in Italy), in line with the plans for the Spanish
company to acquire Jolly Hotels.
Last November, NH Hoteles, Banca Intesa and Joker signed a master agreement whereby they set up the
company Grande Jolly (NH Italia 51%, Joker 42% and Banca Intesa 7%), for the purpose of controlling
around 75% of the capital of the hotel chain Jolly Hotels. On January 31st 2007, the Italian competition
authority, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, gave its permission for the setting up of
the new company Grande Jolly, as a result of which the requirement for starting the operations to take over
Jolly Hotels was fulfilled.
In this context, NH Hoteles, via the company Grande Jolly, has submitted the prospectus for a Takeover Bid
for all the shares held by minority shareholders (5,104,578 shares representing 25.6% of Jolly Hotels). The
price per share set in the Bid will be €25 which, in compliance with European Law, is the same as the price
paid to the founding shareholders of Grande Jolly, thus ensuring that all shareholders are treated on an equal
footing. The operation will involve a total outlay of €127.6m, in the event that all the shares covered by the
Bid take it up.
In the event that the response to the Bid were to mean that Grande Jolly would have a holding of more than
90% of Jolly's share capital, the company would make a Residual Acquisition Public Offering, so that the
Italian hotel chain can be delisted.
NH Hoteles recently submitted a three-year expansion plan in which a major portion of its investments are
to go to Italy. Around 25% of the investments provided for in the plan will be made in the Italian market,
where NH Hoteles plans to have more than 14,000 rooms by the end of 2009.
A major feature of the integration of Jolly Hotels into the Italian subsidiary of NH Hoteles, as the end result
of the agreement signed, is that the two companies are complementary as far as customer profile, services on
offer, strategic urban locations and broad geographical cover are concerned. The agreement means that NH
Hoteles consolidates its leading position in the business sector in Europe and becomes the leader in the
Italian market.
Jolly Hotels is the leading hotel chain in the Italian market and is listed on the stock exchange. It is present in
7 countries with 45 hotels and 7,452 rooms, 3,263 of which are under ownership. It operates 38 hotels in
Italy with 5,863 rooms in the major cities in the country (Rome, Milan, Turin, etc.) where the tourist
attraction provides a stable supplement to the business segment. Jolly Hotels is also present in the following
major European cities: London (285 rooms), Berlin (254), Cologne (220 rooms), Amsterdam (218 rooms),
Brussels (193) and Paris (167). Jolly Hotels also has a 252-room hotel right in the financial and tourist centre
of New York.
This operation, when taken together with the operation recently concluded between NH Hoteles and the Framon
hotel chain, means that the Spanish company will be operating around 56 hotels at major destinations in Italy,
which puts it in a position to take the lead in the much needed concentration of the fragmented hotel market in
Italy.
ABOUT NH HOTELES
NH Hoteles (
www.nh-hotels.com) ranks third among European business hotels. NH Hoteles currently has 334
hotels with 48,600 rooms in 21 countries in Europe, America and Africa. NH Hoteles has at present 31 new
projects for hotels under construction, which shall have more 6,000 new rooms.
NH Hoteles stands out in quality both as regards services and facilities, with very carefully thought out
decoration, intended to please all tastes and making the guest feel comfortable. NH Hoteles’ establishments
offer the most advanced technologies designed to facilitate the guest’s communication as well as his work and
leisure.
The restaurants are another priority for hotels in the chain, offering guest first-rate cuisine. Furthermore, the
prestigious restaurateur Ferran Adrià, creator of El Bulli restaurant, has entered into an association with NH
Hoteles, launching new concepts such as “nhube”, pioneering spaces in the hotel sector combining food, leisure
and rest for the chain’s guest, and “Fast Good”.
NH Hoteles is listed on the Stock Exchange of Madrid (in the selective Ibex 35 Index).
