Vacation rental platform Vacasa is back in play as shareholders have been made a higher offer of $5.25 per share to acquire the company.
While Casago had announced its intention to acquire the beleaguered company back in late December for $5.02 per share, the new offer from Davidson Kempner Capital Management (DK), an existing stakeholder, has been positioned as a “more attractive alternative” to that of Casago.
Vacasa rose 2.4% on news of the higher offer before the markets opened on February 4. A letter from DK to the Vacasa special committee and board, which undertook a strategic review of the business, said it had accepted “an inadequate and conditional offer by Casago Holdings, that undervalues Vacasa.”
Subscribe to our newsletter below
It also said the offer did not treat all stockholders alike and “is not in the best interest of all Vacasa stakeholders.”
The letter from DK went on to say that it believes Vacasa should operate as a private company and that its offer is better value for shareholders and its deal is likely to be completed more quickly than the Casago offer.
While there is no guarantee that the DK offer will go ahead, the investment company also said it has no plans to change Vacasa’s business model towards the franchise model that Casago operates.
Vacasa acknowledged the DK offer and said it plans to review it. In the meantime the merger agreement with Casago remains in place as does the recommendation from the board to agree to the deal, it said in a statement.
Both deals on the table will take Vacasa private three years after its public debut at a $4.4 billion valuation via Special Purchase Acquisition Company TPG Pace Solutions.