Lone Star to the rescue on a Japanese hotel deal?

Unizo Holdings, the Japanese hotel company, said this weekend that a new bidder has emerged with a friendly offer.

U.S. investment fund Lone Star is expected to launch a tender offer this week as part of a friendly bid to acquire the chain. The tender is expected to be at 5,100 yen ($46.60) per share, valuing it at 175.4 billion yen. The chain has been the subject of a bidding war between Blackstone (BX), Fortress Investment Group and activist investor Elliott Management.

Breakdown of a Possible Unizo Holdings Deal

The deal allows employees to own a 73% stake in Unizo’s common shares, while Lone Star would take a 27% stake. Lone Star will also be buying 45-billion-yen worth of preferred shares in Unizo as well as providing 130 billion yen in loans to Unizo.

The offer is above Blackstone’s last bid of 5000 yen. Blackstone is said to be considering its options but most observers do not think another bid will emerge. Unizo said they would break off talks with Blackstone and supporting the employee and Lone Star bid.

Dallas Texas-based Lone Star has not done a deal in Japan since the mid-1990s when they were active when asset prices collapsed in Japan. At that time, they bought several assets including banks, a gold course, and a hotel. They turned these properties around and sold them for a profit. The Unizo Holdings investment is likely to be a longer-term holding.