Hilton Grand Vacations is acquiring Diamond Resorts International, the time-share company owned by Apollo Global Management, in a stock deal with an equity value of about $1.4 billion, according to a statement on Wednesday.
Hilton Grand Vacations shareholders will own about 72 per cent of the combined company with Apollo and other Diamond shareholders owning approximately 28 per cent, according to the statement.
Hilton Grand shares were up 1.4 per cent at $41.15 as of 9.40am in New York. The stock had surged 29 per cent this year through Tuesday’s close.
The pandemic has battered the lodging business over the past year, keeping tourists and leisure travelers home. But vaccines have fueled optimism of a rebound in 2021.
Timeshare companies, which sell fractional stakes in vacation properties, have long catered to young families by offering units that include kitchens and extra bedrooms. Diamond owns 92 resorts, while Hilton Grand has 62 properties, according to the statement.
Vacation travel is poised to bounce back first, with many experts predicting that vaccinated Americans will get out of the house long before corporations get comfortable with resuming business travel. Timeshare companies, which have longer booking windows than traditional lodging, have already indicated travel demand for the second half of this year is well ahead of the pace in 2019.
“The manifestation of pent-up demand is so significant that timeshare companies will need to reduce rental activity to make availably for existing owners,” wrote David Katz, an analyst at Jefferies, in a March 5 note.
Apollo took Diamond Resorts private in 2016 for $2.2bn and made a bid to buy Hilton Grand Vacations three years later for about $40 a share. At the time, Elliott Management had built a position in Hilton Grand and was advocating for a sale before the company put itself on the block.
Blackstone Group also bid for Orlando-based Hilton Grand at the time, Bloomberg News reported.
In January 2020, Las Vegas-based Diamond Resorts entered the Manhattan market in a bid to expand its appeal to millennials. Diamond had been courting younger travelers with concerts, live events and urban locations, and adding a New York property to expand that strategy.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Last-16 Europa League fixtures
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
