Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Monaco resident and founder of easyJet, has spoken out about a bid for another company he started, easyHotel, which has been accepted by other major shareholders, but which Sit Stelios says is “too low.”
He has urged easyHotel shareholders to reject a near-£139m offer for the budget hotel chain he founded because he says the bid is too low. The cash offer from Ivanhoé Cambridge, a Canadian real estate investor, and Icamap, a property fund, values the company at £138.7 million, 35 percent more than easyHotel’s closing price on Friday, August 2.
Sir Stelios retains a 27 percent stake in the company, which he launched in 2004. He has a 34 percent stake in easyJet reported to be worth about £1.2 billion. EasyHotel owns 12 hotels outright, with a further 26 franchised sites, with 17 more in development.
The company aims for the “ultra-budget” sector and operates in the UK, Europe and Dubai. It reported a loss of £120,000 in the first six months of 2019 and has also said that the hotel sector is facing uncertainty because of Brexit.
PHOTO: easyHotel
