Playa Hotels & Resorts has added five all-inclusive
resorts in Jamaica to its portfolio with the completion of a $300 million deal.
The portfolio includes the Hilton Rose Hall, Jewel Runaway
Bay, Jewel Dunn's River, Jewel Paradise Cove and Jewel Grande Montego Bay.
Playa also acquired developable land adjacent to the Jewel Grande Montego Bay
that could accommodate up to 700 more rooms.
Playa is also operating the resorts, which were previously
operated by Aimbridge Hospitality.
Playa paid Sagicor Group Jamaica $100 million in cash and 20
million Playa shares and named two Sagicor executives to its board of
directors.
With the acquisition, Playa now has seven Jamaica resorts.
The company also owns and operates the Hyatt Ziva and Hyatt Zilara
all-inclusives.
"The closing of this transaction with Sagicor elevates
Playa into a strategically dominant position in Jamaica, diversifies our
resorts' portfolio and will allow for several years of strong profit growth as
we execute our rebranding, expansion and renovation projects," said Bruce
Wardinski, chairman and CEO.
Playa owns and/or manages a portfolio of 20 resorts (7,769
rooms) in Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. The company rebranded two
of its Mexico resorts under the Panama Jack brand last year.