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Sharp Says Four Seasons Sale Inevitable

NEW YORK CITY-Taking advantage of current value was the key to the move, he says. A JV of Bill Gates and Prince Alwaleed plans to take Four Seasons private.

By Katie Hinderer | Updated on November 07, 2006

NEW YORK CITY-Monday, Four Seasons Hotels Inc., to the surprise of some in the industry, announced it was in talks to go private. A joint venture, made of Bill Gates’ Cascade Investments and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud’s Kingdom Hotels International, offered to acquire the outstanding limited voting shares of the company for $82 per share. The deal is valued at $3.7 billion. Isadore Sharp’s Triples Holdings Ltd, the current controlling shareholder, will hold 10% of the shares of Four Seasons through a separate class of voting shares.

In a press conference on Monday to formally announce the move to take Four Seasons private, CEO Sharp said, “I do recognize that this announcement has probably come as a bit of surprise to all you.” Lou Plasencia, president and CEO of the Plasencia Group Inc, says, “There was some conjecture in close circles, but it had not really gone public.”

The deal could be a way for Sharp to semi-retire, says Sumner Baye, president of Hotel Network. “It will be interesting to see if he retires,” Baye says, “if he’s cashing out.” For his part, Sharp said during the press conference that he will remain as chairman and CEO of the company even after it goes private and did not mention retirement as an option. He did, however, say the idea of the transaction was appealing to him because he knew eventually the company would need to be sold.

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