Two of the world's richest men, Microsoft's founder, Bill Gates, and Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, have joined forces to take the Four Season Hotels chain into private ownership in a deal valuing the firm at $3.7bn (£1.95bn).

News of the $82-a-share cash bid sent the Canadian company's shares up more than 30% in New York and in Toronto, quickly topping the bid price during the day. Four Seasons said the offer represented a 28.4% premium over its closing share price on Friday. The company has set up a committee of independent directors to consider the offer. The investment group includes Prince Alwaleed's Kingdom Hotels and Bill Gates's Cascade Investment, along with Isadore Sharp, Four Seasons chairman and chief executive, and his family company, Triples Holdings, the hotel chain's controlling shareholder. Four Seasons operates and owns 74 luxury properties in 31 countries.

"This proposal does not represent a change in strategy, direction, management or leadership of the company. It is only a proposed change to our ownership structure from a publicly traded to a privately held company," Mr Sharp said.

Hotel chains have become takeover targets as demand for travel and property prices in the world's largest cities rise. Dubai International Capital, owned by the Dubai government, is buying Travelodge for $3.1bn, and Hilton Hotels decided last month to sell off its largest properties in the UK for £417m. Blackstone, the private equity group, has raised $5.25bn to buy hotels and other properties.

The offer for Four Seasons came after the chain's shares rose 18% in the last year, following British InterContinental Hotels Group with a 22% increase and a 35% rise for Marriott International.

If the deal is completed, Triples would hold about 10% of Four Seasons' shares with the rest would be split between Kingdom and Cascade. Mr Sharp would remain chairman and chief executive. "This proposal achieves all my objectives for Four Seasons and my family, and is the only one that I am prepared to pursue," Mr Sharp said. A change in ownership was "inevitable because some day my children would have needed to sell".

Bill Gates already has a substantial holding in the company, with an estimated 1.98m shares. Prince Alwaleed is the company's biggest shareholder. Both own several Four Seasons hotels.

Mr Sharp said that Mr Gates and Prince Alwaleed "share my long-term vision and commitment to this company". The two billionaires have been collaborating for the last two years. Prince Alwaleed agreed in 2004 to help Microsoft expand in Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi state news agency.

The Four Seasons' bid is Prince Alwaleed's second push into the Canadian hotel market this year. In January, Kingdom Hotels and an US investment group acquired Fairmont for $3.9bn.