SINGAPORE (Dec 21): City Developments (CDL) has sent out the offer documents for the buyout of Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) Hotels to the latter's shareholders.

The first close date for the transaction is Jan 23, 2018.

CDL is making a final cash offer of 620 pence ($11.20) each for the 34.8% stake in London-listed hotelier it does not already own.

The property group will need approval from at least 50% of M&C's remaining shareholders to close the deal.

International Value Advisers, MSD Partners and Classic Fund Management, which together hold 37% of the voting shares in M&C, have said they will reject the offer.

Since announcing the buyout on Oct 9 with an initial offer of 552.5 pence, M&C's smaller shareholders had argued that CDL had put too low a price on the business which did not reflect the value of its extensive property portfolio.

On Dec 9, the buyout offer price was raised by 12.2% to the current one.

In an open letter to M&C shareholders on Dec 18, Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman of CDL and chairman of M&C, says the final offer is "final" and will not be further revised.

Shares in CDL and M&C Hotels last traded at $12.27 and 583.25 pence.

This article by PC Lee first appeared on TheEdgeSingapore.com