Billionaire’s third bid for hotel chain

THE Singapore billionaire vying to take over Millennium & Copthorne Hotels has made a third bid for the chain.

Kwek Leng Beng, the chairman of M&C, which owns about 65pc of the group, is trying to buy the remaining share.

His first offer, in August, worth 510p per share in cash, was rejected by shareholders outright, while a revised proposal, made in September, was also rebuffed.

His third offer, earlier this month, for 545p per share, values the firm at £1.8bn but that has faced criticism by investors, who believe it undervalues the company.

International Value Advisers and MSD Partners say the latest offer fails to reflect the underlying value of its assets, which give the firm a book value of 820p per share. They also criticised directors for considering the offer without talking to independent shareholders.

Two other City investors, Aberdeen Standard Investments and Fidelity International, also oppose the offer.