Chinese bid goes higher for Club Med

The Chinese conglomerate Fosun has reportedly sweetened its bid to win control of French holiday group Club Med, coming in higher than a rival offer from an Italian businessmen.

Fosun, which has brought Brazilian investor Nelson Tanure on board as a minority partner, is upping its bid 50 cents a share to 23.50 euros - modest, but above the latest 23.00-euro-per-share offer made by Italian businessman Andrea Bonomi.

Fosun and Bonomi are locked in a long bidding war for Club Med, whose board in early October approved the earlier Fosun offer as "more with the interests of the company".

The improved Fosun offer valued Club Med at 890 million euros ($A1.2 billion).

It was lodged on Monday with French stock market regulators, who gave Bonomi a deadline of December 17 to counter it with an elevated bid.

Speculation that the offer could yet go higher drove Club Med's share price close to 24 euros in late trading on Monday in Paris.

Club Med first became a high-profile name in the European tourism industry for its all-inclusive budget family villages.

It has since moved up-market, weathering financial storms in the process, and is now looking for further expansion, including in China where it has been a partner with Fosun.

According to company figures released Friday, of the 25,000 new clients Club Med attracted in 2013, 80 per cent were Chinese - and the rest were Brazilians.

Source : The Australian Business Review   December 2nd 2014