Shares in Tourism Holdings Ltd (ASX: THL) shot up more than 30% in early trade after Queensland businessmen Luke and Karl Trouchet teamed up with private equity firm BGH Capital to lob a takeover offer for the company.
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Back for a second attempt
It's the second offer from BGH, which had its NZ$2.30 per share bid rejected by the company last August.
The consortium has now come back with an all-cash offer valued at NZ$3.10 per share.
The company's ASX-listed shares shot up 54.5 cents on the news to $2.29 on Friday morning.
The recreational vehicle company said in its statement to the ASX that the offer was at this stage non-binding and subject to due diligence.
The company added:
It is subject to a number of conditions including the satisfactory completion of due diligence, finalisation of debt arrangements, and BGH receiving final approval from its Investment Review Committee to submit a binding proposal. It is also conditional on THL's Board unanimously recommending shareholders accept the proposal, in the absence of a superior proposal and subject to an independent adviser concluding that the proposal is within or above the independent adviser's valuation range for THL shares.
The company said shareholders holding about 16% of its shares have said that they supported it engaging with the consortium and granting it due diligence access.
Weaker outlook
Tourism Holdings also updated its guidance for FY26 on Friday, saying it now expected underlying net profit to be in the range of NZ$40 to NZ$43 million, down from previous guidance of NZ$43 to NZ$47 million.
The company added:
Given the ongoing global disruptions to international travel and the broader softening of consumer confidence, THL's underlying FY26 profitability has not been significantly impacted, and the Company maintains a strong balance sheet position. The Board considers this a positive outcome given the degree of change and impact on global tourism. There are a number of factors impacting performance, including the effects of the current Middle East conflict on vehicle sales, softer conditions in the Australian domestic rental business, and foreign exchange movements.
Tourism Holdings said vehicle sales had been lower across all of its markets since the start of March due to geopolitical and macroeconomic factors.
It added:
Underlying customer interest and lead volumes for recreational vehicles remain positive. However, the broader uncertainty has resulted in a reluctance by consumers to commit to purchase decisions in the current environment.
The company said it now expected its net debt at the end of FY26 to be NZ$460 to NZ$470 million, up from a previous expectation of less than NZ$400 million.
