New owner BBNH Resorts to expand Negril property
BBNH Resorts Limited, the new owners of the Bloody Bay hotel in Negril, plans to expand the resort property acquired from Village Resorts Limited, according to the Development Bank of Jamaica.
BBNH is an affiliate of Blue Diamond Hotels and Resorts Inc.
VRL, a limited liability company that trades as SuperClubs, bought the Urban Development Corporation’s 50 per cent stake in the hotel prior to making the sale to BBNH. Prior to the sale, the property operated under the name Breezes Grand Resort & Spa Negril. It has since been rebranded Grand Lido Negril.
DBJ, which acted as agent for UDC in the transaction, said in a release Thursday that the expansion to be undertaken by BBNH will accord with the UDC’s overall plans for the development of Bloody Bay.
The DBJ notes that the UDC’s sale of its 50 per cent stake in Bloody Bay Hotel Development Limited (BBHDL) to Village Resorts – which owned the other 50 per cent – preceded the sale of asset of the 210-suite all-inclusive property to the affiliate of Blue Diamond Hotels and Resorts Inc.
UDC grossed US$11.2m from the transaction, which included US$9.5m for the real estate and related fixed assets, and US$1.7m representing UDC’s share of cash and other liquid assets of BBHDL at the date of the sale agreement, the DBJ said.
SuperClubs Chairman John Issa previously disclosed the Bloody Bay hotel sale, as well as the right to the use of certain SuperClubs brands by Blue Diamond, saying the deal closed April 17.
SuperClubs previously operated the property under lease, dating back to its opening in 1989 up to its sale to BBNH.
VRL, in response to an offer made by UDC, exercised its pre-emptive right to acquire the UDC’s shares in BBHDL in June 2011, the DBJ notes in its release.
Cabinet approved the sale of the shares to VRL in January 2013 and the sale transaction was finalised in March with the signing of an agreement on March 27, 2013, DBJ said.
The acquisition has increased the Blue Diamond’s Jamaican portfolio which includes the former 350-room Breezes Trelawny/Starfish Beach Hotel purchased in June 2012 and is due to reopen as Royalton White Sands in October 2013, the DBJ notes.
Blue Diamond manages more than 6,000, rooms in all-inclusive resorts across the Caribbean. The hotel group is an affiliate of the Sunwing Travel Group Inc, a Canadian leisure travel company whose offerings include tour packages, accommodation, online reservation services and air travel.
