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Nomura tipped for preferred bidder status in Le Méridien race
Nomura International has edged ahead in the race to buy the Le Méridien hotel group, Compass' remaining hotel brand up for auction. Nomura has outbid rival Marriott with a £1.85bn headline offer for the estate, which city analysts anticipate will give the principal finance arm of the Japanese bank preferred bidder status from Compass. Both the US-based Marriott group and Nomura tabled bids below their indicative offers of £2bn-£2.2bn, due to the slowdown in the US economy and the foot and mouth outbreak in the UK. Nomura has been broadening its portfolio of hotels since the acquisition of the Principal group for £255m in January. Nomura's head, Guy Hands, privately owns the Hand-Picked hotel group, and in March, Hands secured the acquisition of London's Cumberland hotel from Compass. If Nomura wins the Le Méridien chain, it will become one of Europe's largest hotel operator with 33,100-beds and Compass will have met its £3bn-£3.5bn disposal target, having already raised £1.36bn in the sale of its Posthouse, Heritage and London Signature hotels.
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