THE boss of the property and hotel company Marylebone Warwick Balfour has emerged as the favourite to buy the De Vere leisure group.
Richard Balfour-Lynn, who is bidding through his private vehicle Alternative Hotels Group, is thought to have edged ahead of rival bidders, such as Starwood and Permira, although he has yet to enter exclusive talks.
Balfour-Lynn confirmed his interest this weekend, but said there were a number of obstacles to a deal. One of these is believed to be a legal battle between De Vere and Quinn Group, the Irish firm that acquired the famous De Vere Belfry hotel and golf course last year.
At the High Court in London last week, De Vere chief executive Carl Leaver defended the company against allegations made by Quinn that it had breached the terms of a 25-year contract to operate the Belfry.
De Vere shares closed on Friday at 799p.
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DMGT sells language training group
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THE Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), one of Britain’s biggest newspaper publishers, is to continue its restructuring with the sale of a subsidiary offering language training to thousands of foreign students.
DMGT has appointed Greenhill, the investment bank,
to sell Study Group, which is worth about £80m. The company, part of the DMG Information division owned by DMGT, operates a network of teaching centres in Britain, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
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Caravan parks chief in line for £100m
JOHN MORPHET, the entrepreneur who owns the Royal Westmoreland golf resort in Barbados, is set to make about £100m from the sale of South Lakeland Caravans, the holiday-parks group he founded in 1988.
Morphet, worth £93m according to the Sunday Times Rich List, is in advanced talks to sell the company to L&G Ventures, the private-equity arm of Legal & General. A deal is expected to be announced in the next few days.
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The South Lakeland business owns and operates about 10 holiday parks, most of which are in the Lake District. Morphet’s group, Pure Leisure, owns other assets such as Billing Aquadrome in Northampton, but these are not thought to be part of the deal.
Morphet started the business from a single site in 1988. Today, it has a turnover of almost £31m and generates operating profits of £11.2m, according to the most recently published accounts.
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BAA directors in Ferrovial pledge
THE directors of BAA, the airports group, have pledged to vote their personal shareholdings in the group in favour of a £10.3 billion takeover offer from a consortium led by Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastucture group. The last date for shareholders to accept the deal is June 26.
DFS buyout boss set for new float
THE former Nomura financier who led the buyout of DFS, the furniture retailer, is to float his latest vehicle on the Alternative Investment Market.
Derek Vago, who listed ACP Capital in January, is launching a sister company, ACP Mezzanine, a debt provider, on the market in the next few weeks.
He has begun seeing potential investors and hopes to raise €150m (£100m) for the new venture. He is working with stockbroker Collins Stewart on the float.
ACP Capital raised £50m and promised to launch a number of alternative investment vehicles of which ACP Mezzanine is the first.