Strategic Hotels Exploring Possible Sale
Strategic Hotels & Resorts CEO Raymond Gellein confirmed the company is exploring a potential sale and has hired JPMorgan Chase to entertain possible bids. Murmurs that Strategic was for sale have grown since Bill Gates' Cascade Investment disclosed in a regulatory filing it bought another 1.7M shares of the REIT, bringing Cascade's stake in Strategic to 9.8%. Cascade indicated it was interested in a possible takeover of Strategic, according to NASDAQ. Strategic's luxury hotel holdings include the Intercontinental Chicago; last week it announced it put the Marriott Lincolnshire Resort on the market because it didn't fit with its portfolio. Strategic shares rose 4.5% to $14.55 a share in pre-market trading once the announcement was made. [NASDAQ]
