Mitsui Fudosan to buy 33 pct in Imperial Hotel-paper
TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd (8801.T) (8801.T) is in final talks to buy a 33 percent stake in Imperial Hotel Ltd (9708.T) for 90 billion yen ($776.4 million) from transit services provider Kokusai Kogyo Co, business daily Nikkei reported on Friday.
Kokusai Kogyo, its parent company U.S. investment fund Cerberus Capital Management LP, and Mitsui Fudosan are hammering out details with an aim to reach an agreement next week, the paper said. The purchase price would put the value of each Imperial Hotel share at around 9,000 yen, 61 percent above Thursday's close, it said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange suspended trading of Imperial Hotel shares from 2320 GMT. Mitsui Fudosan was not immediately available for comment.
The Japanese property market has been buoyant with latest government data showing Japan's average commercial land prices rising in the year to July 1 for the first time in 16 years.
Competition in the market is heating up with quality properties becoming scarce and many property firms are focusing on development projects. Imperial Hotel operates a high class hotel chain and has a main hotel in downtown Tokyo near the prime business and shopping district, and Mitsui Fudosan hopes to redevelop the area along with nearby buildings it owns, the paper said.
Imperial Hotel, Japan's fifth largest domestic hotel chain operator, posted a consolidated net profit of 1.33 billion yen on sales of 57 billion yen for the year to March 2007.
