Macquarie swoops on Mantra Group

Macquarie Group and Credit Suisse have become substantial shareholders in the Mantra Group.

Macquarie acquired about eight million Mantra shares on February 27 and giving it a 5.2 per cent stake in the company.

Macquarie snapped up the shares in the ASX-listed Australian hotel and resort operator on behalf of subsidiaries and global and local investors.

The Credit Suisse platform acquired around 9.5 million shares on exactly the same day, February 27, making Credit Suisse the biggest shareholder in Mantra with almost 8 per cent of the register.

It is the clearest sign of market confidence that the $1.2 billion merger of the Mantra Group and the French hotel giant Accor is likely to proceed.

All of this is ahead of the decision later this week by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

The ACCC will announce its finding in relation to the merger on Thursday.

That could include a final decision.

And providing the ACCC gives the merger the green light, Mantra shareholders will vote on the merger in the coming months.

The merger will combine Australia's two biggest hotel operators, creating  a business with around 370 hotels, 53,000 rooms and a dozen brands.

Citi Research Equities analyst Sam Teeger said Mantra's weak first-half results had led to talk around the scheme's material adverse change clause, which can be triggered by a $10 million fall in Mantra's full year pre-tax earnings compared to reasonable expectations.

"But in our view, it is unlikely that this clause will be triggered," Mr Teeger told the Australian Financial Review.

"Accor is confident the deal will complete, but they did not rule out the potential for divestment of hotels in certain cities in relation to any ACCC concerns."

He said the ACCC might require a few hotels to be carved out in certain markets.

However, that was unlikely to derail the whole deal.