Marfin, Louis conclude sale of Cyprus Hilton

Marfin Investment Group (MIG) and Louis Plc (LUI) announced Wednesday that they have concluded the sale agreement of 64,3% of the share capital of the Cyprus Tourism Development Company (CTDC), owner and operator of the Hilton Cyprus hotel at a price of EUR 58,5 mln in cash.

Louis sold 1,709,889 shares or 57% of the company’s capital at EUR 30,47 (CYP 17,61) each to Marfin subsidiary MIG Leisure Ltd., and a further 218,798 shares or 7.3% was sold by Louis parent Clin Company Ltd.

Following the deal, Louis will remain a 20% shareholder in the hotel company and keep a seat on the board while 15,7% of the shares will remain in the hands of some 1200 smaller shareholders, the biggest of whom is Cyprus Airways (CAIR) with a 2% stake.

From the Louis plc share of the sale, estimated at EUR 51,9 mln (CYP 30 mln), Louis is expected to book a profit of EUR 15,6 mln (CYP 9 mln) with an annual contribution to profits of about EUR 1,7 mln (CYP 1 mln), as Louis plc’s cash flow will benefit by EUR 50,2 mln (CYP 29 mln), to be utilised for the company’s expansion plans.

The deal was first announced on February 20 after Louis plc agreed to dispose of its controlling stake it had bought from the government in September 2000 for CYP 22,7 mln (EUR 39 mln)

For the last reported year of 2005, CTDC had earnings from operations of CYP 7,1 mln (EUR 12.2 mln) with profits attributable to shareholders at CYP 1,3 mln (EUR 2,2 mln) or an EPS of 44c per share.