LVMH, Qatar, HNA Group consider bids for Amanresorts‎ International

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, Qatar's sovereign-wealth fund and the parent of Hainan Airlines Co. are considering making bids for the high-end Amanresorts International Pte. Ltd. chain, people familiar with the situation said.

India-based real-estate firm DLF Ltd. is seeking more than $400 million for the chain, the people said. DLF, India's biggest property developer by sales, bought 97% of Singapore-based Amanresorts for $400 million in 2007 and subsequently increased its stake to 100%.

Final bids are due next week and one of the people said the deal is likely to close by December.

Amanresorts has 25 resorts in 16 locations—including Turkey, Sri Lanka and southern Utah—charging rates of $700 to more than $3,000 a night. 
 

HNA Hotels and Resorts Group operates more than 40 hotels and resorts, mainly in China.

Qatar Holding LLC declined to comment. The sovereign-wealth fund's holdings include a stake in Singapore-based luxury-hotel operator Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd.

LVMH began moving into the high-end resort business in 2006, with a hotel in the French ski resort of Courchevel. LVMH in March bought Italian jeweler Bulgari SpA for €4.3 billion ($5.93 billion), which included the Italian group's luxury hotels in Milan and Bali.

HNA has said it is looking to expand overseas as tumbling stock markets made some asset prices attractive. The company said in August that it was bidding for assets of Hochtief AG that the Frankfurt-based construction company had valued at more than €1 billion. That bidding process continues.

HNA's Grand China Air aviation-investment arm, in which billionaire financier George Soros is a major shareholder, also owns Hong Kong Airlines Ltd.

Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are advising DLF on the sale.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that DLF had received five nonbinding bids for Amanresorts.