Leisure/Hotels

Sickly Lotte IPO reflects two faces of South Korea

13 Jun 2016

Seoul may be Asia’s coolest destination right now, and Lotte Group’s flagship duty-free arm ought to profit handsomely. But raids have derailed the unit’s $4.5 bln listing and drawn attention to Korea’s uglier side: its powerful, opaque and poorly governed conglomerates.

Time Out IPO more fringe than West End

10 Jun 2016

The loss-making events magazine is raising 90 mln pounds on London’s junior market. Its revamp depends on convincing visitors to book tickets on its site, though its track record hasn’t been great so far. Online booking is a crowded field and the price it is asking looks high.

Thomas Cook is shock absorber for tourist turmoil

19 May 2016

Despite increased like-for-like revenue, the UK holiday group’s shares dropped by almost a fifth as it reported half-year results. A missing Egypt-bound airplane underlines how difficult the tourism business has become. 

Eurovision puts Ukraine in helpful spotlight

16 May 2016

Kiev’s pride in winning Saturday’s annual croon-fest has a downside: it has to pay to host next year’s. Russia has pointed out Ukraine has a ropey economy and a war in the east. The experience of former hosts, though, suggests there could be a return on the investment.

China’s HNA battles "bad guest" rating in Spain

9 May 2016

Minority investors in Spain’s NH Hotels are worried about a conflict of interest after its largest shareholder, China’s HNA, bid for competitor Carlson. They have a point. But the best minorities might be able to hope for is that HNA offers them a takeout at a decent premium.

Priceline embarrassment goes beyond CEO dalliance

28 Apr 2016

The $68 bln travel website parted ways with Darren Huston citing “activities inconsistent with the board’s expectations for executive conduct.” Resorting to a former boss as a stopgap isn’t disastrous, but it suggests the board missed a trick by not bedding down succession.

China’s next top corporate tourist is HNA

28 Apr 2016

The conglomerate has added Radisson owner Carlson Hotels to its portfolio of airlines, property and electronics. It has spent more than $15 bln outside the People’s Republic in a year. As with other Chinese buyers, outsiders can only guess at the logic of HNA’s grand tour.

Disney’s fairytale CEO plan gets twist in ending

5 Apr 2016

Bob Iger’s right-hand man Tom Staggs is stepping down, a year after he was anointed as heir apparent. That leaves no obvious succession plan at Disney after Iger twice extended his reign. An outsider would be surprising. At least the company has two years to find a replacement.

Anbang risks a Year of the Stalking Horse

1 Apr 2016

The Beijing insurer has inked smaller deals, but it just abandoned its $14 bln offer for Starwood, citing “market conditions.” Anbang’s emergence nevertheless helped the U.S. hotelier wrest sweeter terms from Marriott. It’s a modern hazard for buyers up against Chinese rivals.

Starwood can easily answer the $4.64 question

28 Mar 2016

That’s how much more per share a new cash bid from China’s Anbang is worth over an agreed deal with Marriott. The $14 bln offer is 6 pct sweeter but also comes with financing and regulatory uncertainties. Given the heavy interest from rival hoteliers, Starwood can afford the risk.

Marriott’s Starwood deal suffers China syndrome

21 Mar 2016

To trump an interloping bid from Beijing’s Anbang, Marriott raised its offer for its hotelier rival to $13.6 bln. Even with more cost cuts, the math suggests significant value destruction. Anbang may have reasons to pay up, but Western buyers can’t be so careless of shareholders.

It’s time for Marriott to check out of Starwood

18 Mar 2016

The U.S. hotelier has 10 days to sweeten its offer after China’s Anbang won over the Westin owner with a $13.2 bln cash deal. Marriott may struggle to top that without destroying value for its shareholders. Pocketing the break fee and moving on beats a bidding war.

Anbang’s U.S. hotel block bookings getting pricey

14 Mar 2016

The Chinese insurer is in a hurry, leading a $13 bln offer for Starwood on top of a $6.5 bln deal to buy Strategic Hotels from Blackstone and its $2 bln purchase of the Waldorf Astoria in 2014. It’s hard to see how they all meet Anbang Chairman Wu Xiaohui’s own financial targets.

Hotel spree sates China’s taste for overseas glitz

14 Mar 2016

Foreign hotels are becoming corporate China’s trophy assets of choice. Buyers want to reduce their exposure to a slowing domestic market and capture the growing flow of overseas tourist dollars. Anbang Insurance’s mooted $6.5 bln takeover of Strategic Hotels won’t be the last.

InterContinental’s slowdown could book in a merger

23 Feb 2016

The hotels group’s revenue per available room grew less quickly in the fourth quarter. The takeover of Starwood Hotels by Marriott International has raised expectations for more industry tie-ups. But InterContinental’s $1.5 bln special dividend implies it won’t be a predator.

Accor’s balance sheet looks more balanced

18 Feb 2016

The French hotels group had net cash at the end of December and covered its dividend out of free cashflow. Acquisition spending may reverse that progress in 2016. But AccorHotels’ strategy of both owning and managing sites is mitigating tougher times in France and Brazil.

Review: Making Big Data visible and tangible

31 Dec 2015

Projecting selfies onto a screen in real time shows both the value and vulnerability of today’s flood of ones and zeros. A London exhibition explores the good, the bad and the infrastructure of data from inventive angles. It makes a vital unseen world visible – and scary.

Savoy and Plaza sale means trophies for all

9 Dec 2015

Accor is buying the owner of the luxury London and New York hotels for $2.9 bln from its Saudi and Qatari investors. Adding higher-end lodging may help the French group make its online booking system more competitive. The price, however, looks too high to create much value.

The Uber or Airbnb of finance will prove elusive

8 Dec 2015

In 2015 more than $15 bln has poured into so-called fintech startups embracing blockchain, peer lending, payments and the like. While each can disrupt an element of the status quo, their scale will be hindered by the deep moat that protects the banking industry: regulation.

Hyatt’s M&A fail is small win for good governance

17 Nov 2015

The U.S. hotelier lost to Marriott in the $12 bln takeover of Starwood. One factor was the Pritzker family’s tight grip on Hyatt. It conceded the flaw by offering to alter its super-voting share scheme in the bid. The rejection provides a warning to other feudal companies.