Business

Burkle hostile after Morgans Hotel bid rejected

Billionaire activist Ron Burkle has gone hostile.

The 60-year-old investor has declared war on Jason Taubman Kalisman, the 34-year-old grandson of real estate developer Alfred Taubman, revealing late Friday that he bid $8 a share — roughly $870 million — for his Morgans Hotel Group.

Kalisman in recent weeks was in discussions with the investor about buying Burkle’s Morgans warrants.

However, Kalisman rejected Burkle’s asking price, sources close to the situation said.

Morgans closed Friday down about 1 percent, to $7.09 — but surged nearly 12 percent in after hours trading when Burkle’s bid was revealed.

Now, the battle between the billionaire activist and the kid real estate scion is fully underway.

The Ian Schrager-founded Morgans, which owns the Royalton and Hudson hotels in New York and the Delano in South Beach, among others, has a poison pill and no annual meeting until the fall.

Kalisman can reject the offer and move forward with his plan of refinancing the Hudson Hotel and paying off the money the company owes Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos.

“Does he want to put his head down and take his chances at the next annual meeting?” a Morgans shareholder said. “It remains to be seen.”

Burkle has not always won during contentious battles including failing to gain control of Barnes & Noble after a hostile proxy fight.

Burkle’s Morgans offer comes amid grumbling from investors that Morgans new board isn’t serious about selling the company, despite interest from strategic buyers.

Indeed, several investors have told The Post they have failed to get information from the board about whether a process to look at bids is even underway.

Kalisman won a Morgans Board fight last year over Burkle, but since then many traders have bought shares supporting Burkle’s view that the company should be sold.

Burkle in 2009 invested $75 million in Morgans when it desperately needed cash and got preferred shares and warrants to buy 12.5 million shares at $6 a share. Morgans presently only has 32.6 million outstanding shares.