Chatham Lodging Trust has rejected an unsolicited proposal from BlueMountain Capital Management to acquire Chatham for US$21.50 per share.
The REIT’s board of trustees unanimously concluded that “the BlueMountain proposal is inadequate, opportunistically timed and contrary to the best interests of Chatham and its shareholders,” according to a news release from Chatham.
“We thoroughly considered BlueMountain’s proposal with our financial and legal advisors prior to rejecting it,” said Miles Berger, Chatham’s lead independent trustee. “Our board has significant hotel, real estate and financial experience, and we have complete confidence in Chatham’s strategic plan and our management team’s ability to successfully execute that plan. … In order to preserve the substantial shareholder value that has been and will be created, the board is taking measured steps to protect our shareholders from the inadequate and opportunistic takeover attempt by BlueMountain.”
“We have met with BlueMountain and, while the board remains open to considering value-enhancing alternatives, we are confident that now is not the right time to sell the company and that the continued execution of the company’s business strategy will deliver substantially greater value to shareholders than BlueMountain’s proposal,” added Jeffrey Fisher, Chatham’s president, chief executive officer and chairman.