NH Hotel's CEO and Board Members Ousted in Fight Over HNA's Pending Purchase of Carlson
Skift Take
No hospitality merger or acquisition is ever as simple as it seems and, as this case shows, hotel buyers need to consider what kind of impact their purchases may have on their other investments.
Angry shareholders of Spanish hotelier NH Hotel Group have forced out its CEO, Federico González Tejera, as well as four of its board members, in a move aimed directly at the company's largest shareholder, HNA Group, the same Chinese company that announced its plans to buy Carlson Hotels for an undisclosed sum in April.
The shareholders, most of whom are affiliated with London-based hedge fund Oceanwood Capital (which owns 11% of NH Hotel), and Grupo Inversor Hesperia SA, earlier this month proposed removing directors representing HNA, which owns nearly a third of NH Hotel Group.
Oceanwood and Hesperia believe that, following HNA's acquisition of Carlson Hotels, whose brands include Radisson and Radisson Blu, its subsequent 51.3% ownership stake in competitor Rezidor Hotel Group would be a major conflict of interest. In a June 9 report issued by proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., shareholders were urged to vote in favor of Oceanwood Capital's proposal.
That vote took place on June 21 at NH Hotel Group's annual general meeting in Madrid, resulting in the removal of CEO Tejera as well as four other members of the b
