NH Hoteles, Europe's largest chain of business traveller hotels, has set up a joint venture with Italian company Joker which runs Jolly Hotels and the Banca Intesa to create the largest hotel chain in Italy.
Under the agreement, the new company will be called Grande Jolly and operate 70 hotels, mainly in Italy.
Joker will have a 42% stake in the new company, NH Italia (a joint venture between NH Hoteles and Banca Intesa) 51% and Banca Intesa 7%. This new company will own 75% of the former Jolly Hotels.
It said it will launch a "mandatory public tender offer" for the outstanding 25% ordinary shares.
The 200m finance for the deal will come from NH Hoteles (114m) and Banca Intesa (86m).
Antonio Favrin, chairman of Jolly Hotels, will become chairman of the new company, Ugo Zanuso whose family owned Jolly Hotels for decades, will be vp and Gabriele Burgio, NH Hoteles chairman and ceo, will become managing director.
* NH Hoteles announced a rise of 42% in its net profit to 24.5m for the three months ending September 30. Revnues were up 12.6% to 744.1m, revenue per available room was up 11.3% and pre-tax earnings up by 23.3% to 111.73m.
Europcar buys Vanguard's European businesses
The French-owned car rental company Europcar has paid 670m the European businesses of Vanguard.
These include the two brands National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car.
The purchase makes Europcar the largest car rental company in the UK and strengthens its position as number one in continental Europe.
It has also signed a "transatlantic alliance" with the North American company giving its customers access to cars throughout the world. In return, Vanguard customers will get premium deals when hiring National or Alamo vehicles in Europe.
Vanguard EMEA has a fleet of 43,000 vehicles, 2,000,000 rental contracts annually and a yearly revenue of 405m.
The bulk of its revenue (84%) came from the UK, Germany (9%) and Switzerland.
Xavier Marin, chairman of Europcar Groupe, said: "Within six months of its acquisition, and with the support of its new shareholder Eurazeo, Europcar is achieving two major milestones in its development: first, the group becomes the leading car rental operator in the UK market, thereby considerably strengthening its position as the largest car rental company in Europe.
"Second, the strategic alliance with Vanguard enables Europcar to become a worldwide car rental player by offering its clients access to one of the United States' and Canada's premier networks."
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