Pearl buys hotel

Property and hotel company Pearl Oriental is acquiring the 80 per cent it does not own of the Pearl Garden Hotel in Yau Ma Tei. The firm will purchase the remaining stake in the hotel from China Insurance, a subsidiary of a mainland financial institution, for $224 million worth of new shares. Pearl will issue 162.32 million shares to China Insurance at a price of $1.38 each, a premium of 7 per cent to yesterday's closing price of $1.29. The deal values the Pearl Garden Hotel at $280 million.