BETHESDA, MD–Shareholders at RLJ Lodging Trust and FelCor Lodging Trust approved the companies' $7 billion stock-for-stock transaction in which FelCor becomes a subsidiary of RLJ in special meetings held yesterday.
Of the RLJ shareholders, approximately 78% of the votes cast were voted in favor of the proposal while 81% of the outstanding shares of FelCor common stock were voted, with approximately 99% of the votes cast in favor of the merger.
“We are very pleased with the overwhelming level of support that we received from both RLJ and FelCor shareholders,” Robert L. Johnson, executive chairman of RLJ, said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to closing this transaction at the end of the month and starting to unlock the strategic benefits of the merger.”
Shareholders voted to approve the deal despite the disapproval expressed by many analysts over the transaction and what they said was too high of a price that RLJ was paying for FelCor. There was also the matter of a report in the Wall Street Journal that claimed that Blackstone Group had offered to buy RLJ for a 20% premium to its share price — a deal that, if accurate, would have represented a better value for RLJ shareholders.
The merger is expected to close on or about August 31, 2017, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of closing conditions. When the deal is complete, FelCor stock will be delisted from trading on the New York Stock Exchange after the close of trading on Aug. 31, 2017, with each share of FelCor common stock converted into 0.362 RLJ Common Shares. RLJ Common Shares will continue to trade under the existing ticker symbol “RLJ” on the NYSE.
BETHESDA, MD–Shareholders at RLJ Lodging Trust and FelCor Lodging Trust approved the companies' $7 billion stock-for-stock transaction in which FelCor becomes a subsidiary of RLJ in special meetings held yesterday.
Of the RLJ shareholders, approximately 78% of the votes cast were voted in favor of the proposal while 81% of the outstanding shares of FelCor common stock were voted, with approximately 99% of the votes cast in favor of the merger.
“We are very pleased with the overwhelming level of support that we received from both RLJ and FelCor shareholders,” Robert L. Johnson, executive chairman of RLJ, said in a prepared statement. “We look forward to closing this transaction at the end of the month and starting to unlock the strategic benefits of the merger.”
Shareholders voted to approve the deal despite the disapproval expressed by many analysts over the transaction and what they said was too high of a price that RLJ was paying for FelCor. There was also the matter of a report in the Wall Street Journal that claimed that Blackstone Group had offered to buy RLJ for a 20% premium to its share price — a deal that, if accurate, would have represented a better value for RLJ shareholders.
The merger is expected to close on or about August 31, 2017, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of closing conditions. When the deal is complete, FelCor stock will be delisted from trading on the
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
