Bill Gates, Alwaleed bid $3.7bn for Hotel chain

Luxury hotel and resort manager Four Seasons Hotels Inc. said Monday that Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates joined a Saudi Prince and the founder of Four Seasons Hotels Inc. to offer to take the Canadian firm private for $82 per share in cash.

Led by Four Seasons founder and chief executive Isadore Sharp, the Bill Gates' investment firm Cascade is backing the $3.7bn plan.

Mr. Sharp said, “This proposal achieves all my objectives for Four Seasons and my family, and is the only one that I am prepared to pursue.” He started the company in 1960 with a single small Toronto hotel and is to remain as the chairman and CEO. He said Mr. Gates and Prince Alwaleed "share my long-term vision and commitment to this company".

Mr. Sharp added, “the deal would ensure continuity and stability for our hotel owners, customers and employees for the long term".

A trust created by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud owns Kingdom Hotels.

Kingdom and Cascade are expected to acquire the limited voting shares of the Four Seasons for $82 per share, a 28.4 percent premium over the company's Friday closing price of $63.87 on the New York Stock Exchange.

A special committee of independent directors had been set up by the company to consider the offer and make recommendations.

All of the multiple voting shares in Four Seasons are owned by Sharp and his family through Triples Holdings Ltd., a private investment company. If the deal is successfully completed, about 10 percent of Four Seasons' shares would be held by Triples through a separate class of special voting shares. The balance of the stock would be split equally between Kingdom and Cascade.