The hedge fund Marcato Capital Management has retained investment bank Houlihan Lokey as a financial advisor, as it seeks to convince InterContinental Hotels Group to sell itself. The $3 billion San Francisco-based hedge fund owns a nearly 4 percent stake in the hotel group and has already publicly called on IHG to pursue a merger with a larger hotel operator. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Mercato is trying to ramp up the pressure by hiring the bank and focusing on the possibility of a tax-beneficial merger. Read more over at the WSJ.
