China’s Fosun International Ltd. raised its takeover bid for Club Mediterranee SA, the French holiday resort company.

China’s Fosun International Ltd. raised its takeover bid for Club Mediterranee SA, the French holiday resort company, hours before a deadline expired to eke out a higher offer and move past a competing proposal.

Fosun is offering 23.50 euros for each share, 50 cents more than the Global Resorts SAS consortium of bidders and 1.5 euros above its own previous bid. It also agreed to buy outstanding convertible bonds for 24.82 euros, compared with the rival offer of 24.41 euros, according to a statement today.

The Chinese bidder had until the end of today to sweeten its proposal, after Global Resorts had lifted its bid on Nov. 12 to take the lead in a takeover battle that’s dragged out for months. Fosun had sought to strengthen its case with a pledge to expand Club Med’s reach into China, where travel demand is growing among an increasingly mobile population that counts France among its most popular destinations.

Under French rules, any new bid must be at least 2 percent higher than the existing one. Fosun said the additional amount of cash being contributed is about 51.9 million euros (64.9 million.)

The French AMF financial markets regulator set Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. as the deadline for a fresh proposal by Global Resorts.