Pebblebrook looking to derail Blackstone’s $4.8B bid for La Salle

Hotel firm ups merger price to $37.80 per share

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Chairman Jon Bortz and Park Central NY at 870 7th Ave (Credit: Pebblebrook Hotels and Booking)
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Chairman Jon Bortz and Park Central NY at 870 7th Ave (Credit: Pebblebrook Hotels and Booking)

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is upping its offer in an effort to block the Blackstone Group‘s prospective $4.8 billion acquisition of LaSalle Hotel Properties.

In a regulatory filing, Pebblebrook announced a purchase price of $37.80 per share, up from its previous proposal of $35.89. According to Bloomberg, the previous proposal was only made verbally. LaSalle rejected the deal before agreeing to an all-cash deal with Blackstone. Pebblebrook’s new offer represents a 13 percent premium from Blackstone’s $33.50 merger price.

Pebblebrook has been in pursuit of LaSalle for the past few months. When the Blackstone-LaSalle agreement was announced, Jon Bortz, Pebblebrook’s president and CEO, publicly criticized the deal, saying that Pebblebrook’s proposal was “substantially superior.” Pebblebrook’s new offer includes the $112 million termination fee that LaSalle would be required to pay Blackstone.

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Pebblebrook will campaign for its merger proposal. The firm has hired advisory firm Okapi Partners LLC to determine which shareholders are in favor of the Blackstone deal.

Pebblebrook claims it holds a 4.8 percent stake in LaSalle. The company exited the New York City market when it sold the Dumont NYC Hotel to the LeFrak Organization last year. If its proposal gets the required two-thirds vote from LaSalle shareholders, Pebblebrook will gain stakes in four Manhattan hotels: the Gild Hotel, Park Central New York, the Roger and Westhouse. [Bloomberg]— Christian Bautista