Atlantis owner receives $4bn bid from Malaysian firm

14 October 2010

Kerzner International Holdings recieves buyout offer

A Malaysian investment firm has offered to pay up to $4bn for Kerzner International Holdings, the hotel company that built Atlantis in Dubai and the Bahamas, Bloomberg has reported. BMB Advisors Malaysia, a unit of BMB Group, sent a letter on Oct 11 to Sol Kerzner, founder of Kerzner International, offering to pay $3.4bn to $4bn for his Bahamas-based company, according to a copy obtained by the news service. “We see this as a very powerful brand,” BMB founder Rayo Withanage was quoted as saying. “If there’s going to be another Atlantis, it’s going to be in Asia.” Kerzner International also owns One&Only resorts, which operates two hotels in Dubai - the Royal Mirage and The Palm, which had a soft opening on October 10. The company was taken private in 2006 for $3.2bn, plus debt, by a group led by Kerzner himself. He partnered with Dubai World’s Istithmar, Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership 2005, Colony Capital, Providence Equity Partners and Related Cos.

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