MFS buys Outrigger
Financial group MFS has bought the Australian and New Zealand management rights of the Hawaii based Outrigger Enterprises Group for $120 million.
The Outrigger management rights will be packaged with the assets of listed Tourism Hotels & Leisure group into a $600 million tourism-focused investment trust that MFS hopes to launch by the first quarter next year.
The Outrigger deal includes the management rights to 13 existing resorts, mostly in Queensland.
MFS will rebadge them under its Stella Resorts Group brands when the deal settles before Christmas.
Also included are six Australian resorts under construction, including the Outrigger on Bourke in Melbourne and Outrigger Bunbury on the Beach in Western Australia’s southwest.
Outrigger senior vice-president of operations Dave Lawrence said the $120 million sale gave the group a war chest with which to push into Australia’s capital cities as part of its strategy to move away from regional areas.
“We will be looking at targeting more into the gateway cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin and Perth, maybe with still a resort element,” Mr Lawrence said.
He said the group had decided to sell now because it believed the management rights market was “close to the top, if not at the top”.
The Outrigger acquisition would provide MFS with another 2000 rooms, with 1000 under construction.
Graham Muldoon
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