(Reuters) - Global Resorts, the investment vehicle of Italian tycoon Andrea Bonomi, has decided not to raise its offer for struggling French resort operator Club Mediterranee and to withdraw its bid, ending France's longest-running takeover battle.
Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang sweetened his bid for Club Med on Dec. 19, trumping Bonomi's 24 euro-a-share offer.
"The current scenario and valuation levels don't justify a further consideration of a potential investment in Club Med," Bonomi said in a statement on Friday, ahead of a Jan. 7 deadline set by France's AMF regulator for his vehicle to make another counterbid.
Guo's 24.60 euro offer valued the holiday operator at 939 million euros ($1.13 billion). It was the eighth offer Club Med investors have been asked to evaluate since May 2013 when Guo first offered 17 euros.
Club Med shares closed at 25.09 euros on Friday. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.
Global Resorts said in a statement that shares it currently holds in Club Med would either be sold in conjunction with the bid by Guo's Gaillon Invest II vehicle or on the market.
Guo and Bonomi have been raising their bids in turn for months. Both men saw turnaround potential in a business damaged by the weak economy in its core European market and by a stalled attempt to move upmarket.
Gaillon Invest II is majority controlled by Guo's Fosun conglomerate.
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