Fosun International Ltd (復星國際) is considering strategic options for its French luxury resort chain Club Med SAS as the Chinese conglomerate explores ways to cut debt, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Shanghai-based group has been informally fielding interest from potential buyers of Club Med, the people said on the condition of anonymity.
It could seek to value the business at about US$1.5 billion in any transaction, the people added.
Photo: Reuters
Fosun owns Club Med through its listed leisure arm Fosun Tourism Group (復星旅遊文化集團). Fosun Tourism shares have fallen 19 percent in Hong Kong trading this year, giving it a market value of about HK$10.5 billion (US$1.3 billion).
Club Med is among a number of assets being reviewed by Fosun and there is no certainty it would decide to proceed with any transaction, the people said.
A representative for Fosun said the group has “no plans” to sell Club Med.
Club Med is known for its all-inclusive resorts offering a range of leisure activities from fine dining to yoga, scuba diving and baby gym classes. It operates nearly 80 resorts globally in destinations including the French Alps and the Maldives, according to its Web site.
A consortium led by Fosun bought Paris-based Club Med in a 2015 deal valued at about 939 million euros (US$969 million), beating out Italian investor Andrea Bonomi in a bidding war that lasted for more than a year.
The group expanded Club Med’s business in China before folding it into Fosun Tourism with other business assets.
Fosun, which also owns French fashion house Lanvin, told analysts last month that it is targeting selling as much as US$11 billion of assets in the next 12 months.
It recently agreed to sell a stake in the parent company of Nanjing Iron & Steel Co (南京鋼鐵) for 15 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) as well as a HK$4.4 billion disposal of its holdings in Zhaojin Mining Industry Co (招金礦業).
The Chinese group has told advisers that its domestic food and beverage business is also for sale. It is also weighing strategic options for British baby stroller brand Silver Cross, as well as its investment in electric vehicle battery maker JEVE, other sources said.
Fosun has separately been exploring a transaction involving the Bund Finance Center (外灘金融中心) in Shanghai, the people said.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
TikTok abounds with viral videos accusing prestigious brands of secretly manufacturing luxury goods in China so they can be sold at cut prices. However, while these “revelations” are spurious, behind them lurks a well-oiled machine for selling counterfeit goods that is making the most of the confusion surrounding trade tariffs. Chinese content creators who portray themselves as workers or subcontractors in the luxury goods business claim that Beijing has lifted confidentiality clauses on local subcontractors as a way to respond to the huge hike in customs duties imposed on China by US President Donald Trump. They say this Chinese decision, of which Agence
RSS