Preeminent Global Experience Bids $108 Million For Tanner & Haley
Date: November 28, 2006
Preeminent Global Experience, LP (PGE) has submitted a cash bid for Tanner & Haley's assets of $108 million, an additional $10 million or 10.2% over the previously announced offer. In addition, PGE is offering many non-cash benefits including employment to all employees, assumption of significant liabilities, provision of travel options to trade creditors, and an opportunity for every Tanner & Hanley (sic) member to participate in a travel experience club tailored to each member's needs. Other terms and conditions are either more favorable than those in the competing offer or virtually identical, with a travel plan that assures the clubs will be available to many generations of members.
According to Joe Ricketts, PGE's CEO and TD Ameritrade's Chairman and Founder, "Our mission is to offer more than a destination club by extending the traditional model of offering luxury properties at the best global destinations to include once in a lifetime experiences by means of our Experience Crafting(TM) process and then delivering the highest levels of service."
PGE launched CIEL, a high-end invitation-only experience club for just 100 members, this autumn and envisions the Tanner & Haley acquisition as an excellent mid-range complement. The new experience club (New Club) is being developed to meet the needs of the Tanner & Haley member and will be marketed as the alternative offering for members who desire value without compromising service, quality, or access.
Mr. Ricketts notes, "Our development of CIEL provides many benefits to Tanner & Haley members. Two immediate benefits: First, every member will be offered an opportunity to join CIEL with Tanner & Haley Legendary Retreat Members receiving a membership with no membership deposit. Second, for Tanner & Haley members who choose to join New Club, the services and crafted experiences developed for CIEL will be made available to them."
"We have been studying and aggressively pursuing this acquisition since mid-July and we were a finalist in the informal sales process. Over the past week and holiday weekend, we have continued our analysis and due diligence and we concluded that we can provide a higher and more complete bid that will better address the needs of all of the Tanner & Haley creditors," said Jonathan Harding, PGE's President and COO. "We have also used the past week to study the viability of the competing offer and our analysis has raised serious questions that we know are addressed to the members' benefit in our offer."
Mr. Ricketts adds, "Listening to Tanner & Haley members, my sense is that they want a complete product, a seamless leisure travel experience with fair and equal access, financial responsibility and transparency, conservative and managed growth, and a commitment to defining a higher standard for the industry. I know we can deliver on all of these objectives this year and every year and I am going to compete hard to win this deal and the trust of every member."
About Preeminent Global Experience, LP
Preeminent Global Experience, LP (PGE) was founded to revolutionize the discerning traveler's concept of the ideal leisure experience. PGE is the brainchild of Joe Ricketts, a financial services innovator and the Founder/Chairman of TD Ameritrade. Mr. Ricketts has a track record of success -- demonstrating patience, persistence, and an unwavering commitment to clients -- building TD Ameritrade into an enterprise with $266 billion of clients' assets.
About CIEL
CIEL is an ultra-luxury global experience club that offers unusual and ever-changing events and experiences. Each one is offered as part of a luxury travel destination which honors our 100 invitation-only members' need for privacy, luxury, and service.
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