P.E. Firms Boost Bids For Club Med

The private-equity bidding war for Club Méditerranée is heating up as temperatures drop.

The Global Resorts consortium, led by Italian p.e. shop Investindustrial and including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and GP Investments, on Friday increased its bid for the resort company to €915 million. The new offer comes just three days after the group’s rivals for Club Med, China’s Fosun International and p.e. firm Ardian, had boosted their bid to top a Nov. 12 proposal from Global Resorts, led by Investindustrial’s Andrea Bonomi.

Bonomi’s latest bid is 41% higher than Ardian and Fosun’s first offer last year. He said his group would restore Club Med “to its rightful place in the world of tourism,” adding, “We’d all like this affair to come to an end, but this bid process seems pretty standard to me.”

Both Global Resorts and the Ardian-Fosun group own about 20% of Club Med’s shares.