InterContinental Hotels to make $74m from Avendra sale

InterContinental Hotels said on Monday that the owners of Avendra, a North American hospitality procurement services provider in which it has a 6.3% minority interest, have reached a binding agreement to sell the company to Aramark for $1.35bn.

IHG was a founding shareholder in Avendra and its stake’s book value was $2.1m. However, it has not been an active user of its services in recent years.

On completion of the deal, IHG expects to receive gross cash proceeds of around $74m, with estimated post tax proceeds of $44m. In addition, it will no longer receive an annual dividend distribution from Avendra, which has averaged $3.5m over the past two years.

The transaction - expected to close before the year-end - is subject to antitrust clearance and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

At 1505 BST ,the shares were down 0.2% to 4,093p.