receivership

Ireland's Largest Hotel In Receivership

The Citywest Hotel in Dublin, Ireland is the latest hotel to hit hard times. The four-star Citywest development has been placed into receivership by Bank of Scotland (Ireland). The property has over 1,700 rooms, two golf courses, a separate convention center and a helipad and the hotel website lists it as Ireland's largest hotel.

Ferris Associates has been appointed as receiver to HSS, which trades as the Citywest Hotel, Conference Centre, Leisure and Golf Resort and Jeffel, a land-holding company. The company owes the Bank of Scotland 180 million euros. Ferris associates has appointed Dalata Ltd, a hotel operating company, to run the hotel and Citywest's 400 staff will continue to be employed. The Citywest Hotel was founded by well-known and often controversial local businessman Jim Mansfield 18 years ago. His other properties including Palmerstown Golf Club, Finnstown Hotel and Weston Airport are not affected by the receivership. An executive for the hotel has called the move premature, saying the hotel is currently in talks for a buyout.

Tags: citywest, dublin, hotels in trouble, ireland, receivership

EOS Winery In Receivership

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

One of the largest wineries in the Paso Robles area of California, EOS Estate Winery has been placed in receivership. The San Luis Obispo Tribune reports that one of the winery's lenders, Farm Credit West, is acting as the court-ordered receiver and has been put in charge of the books. Business continues as usual at the winery which puts out over 200,000 cases of wine a year.

Saint James EOS Winery bought the company from Sapphire Wines, a Tennessee-based firm owned and controlled by Jeffrey Hopmayer and Saint James chief executive officer Kerry Vix says that the winery is in trouble because of extensive borrowing by the previous owner. Hopmayer meanwhile says that Saint James failed to obtain the necessary funding to keep the winery afloat because of the flabby economy.

EOS Estate Winery sells a large range of wines including whites, reds and desert wines. Most wines are in the $12-$40 range. It was founded by the Arciero family in 1985 but sold to Sapphire Wines in 2007. EOS owes an estimated $16.5 million to lenders, including a $7.5 million loan from Farm Credit West and $8 million owed to Entertainment Properties Trust. The winery also owes $2 million to $3 million to growers and $1.2 million in rent not paid since August 2009. As much as $1 million may be missing from the winery's books and a hunt is on find the missing finds. There is also talk of a potential buyer who might come in and takeover the winery. Another hearing on the case is scheduled for next week.

Tags: eos estate winery, eos winery, paso robles, receivership, winery

Anguilla Resort Heads Into Receivership

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

More resort woes in the Caribbean. The Wall Street Journal reports that Credit Suisse, which represents investors in the Temenos resort on Anguilla, has taken over the project and appointed a receiver to manage it. The resort, which was supposed to have a 32-room hotel and 78 villas offered for sale in the millions, carried a $180 million mortgage. The luxury development was the brainchild of entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman, who began planning the resort in 2002 and put $180 million of his own money into the project in addition to the monster mortgage. Construction was stopped in 2008 and it is said that the project will need another $125 million for completion. The receiver will be charged with finding a deep-pocketed savior for the project to either finish the resort or take over completely.

Sillerman has had a long career in the entertainment world. In the late 1970s he and a partner created a company that bought up radio and television stations. He used cash from that first venture to build SFX Entertainment into a huge promoter of live entertainment. That company was later sold to Clear Channel for $4.4 billion in 2000. His latest company is CKX, Inc., which we recently wrote about in December. The company bought controlling interest of Elvis Presley Enterprises in 2004 including Graceland and has been working on a major redevelopment project for the 100 acres surrounding the Tennessee home. CKX is also the parent company for Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment which owns the "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance?" franchises.

Like the Four Seasons Barbados project I mentioned last month, this one also had its share of celebrity investors and other well-heeled buyers, some of who paid deposits of up to 40 percent on idyllic vacation homes. Buyers include bestselling author Dan Brown and television producer Simon Fuller.

Source

Tags: Anguilla, caribbean, foreclosure, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, receivership, resorts in trouble, ResortsInTrouble, temenos

New Zealand Yachts In Receivership

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

Hard times continue to hit the yacht industry. New Zealand Yachts located in Whangarei, New Zealand recently went into receivership. The yacht company came to Whangarei in 2001 and promised to create 1000 jobs. The company did a lot of refits on existing yachts but hadn't ramped up into much production of new yachts. The New Zealand Yachts website includes renderings of many planned yachts including the Wavepiercer shown above.

New Zealand businessman Allen Jones, who had built a large car-washing business in the United States, founded the company, but later returned to the US. HIs son, Damon Jones, was the company's marketing and sales manager. The receiver said the company still operates a first-class refit yard and has the potential to attract yacht work from around the world.

Source

Tags: new zealand, new zealand yachts, NewZealand, NewZealandYachts, receivership, whangarei

Nikki Beach Turks and Caicos Closes

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Say farewell to another luxury resort. Leeward Resort Ltd. the owner of the Nikki Beach Resort & Spa in Turks and Caicos, has been placed into receivership. The resort, which offered 48 rooms and suites with luxury amenities, has been closed after being open less than tow years. The Nikki Beach brand remains afloat with resorts around the world including Miami, New York and Thailand. The British Caribbean Bank will manage the 430-acre resort and 110-slip mega-yacht marina and is hoping for a buyer. Since the Four Seasons Exuma was recently snapped up by Sandals there's reason to believe that their might be another hotel company willing to make a deal and pick up a resort which has been widely regarded as one of most exclusive in the Caribbean. Expansion plans for the resort had included condominiums, a spa, casino and new restaurants.

Source

Tags: hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, nikki beach, NikkiBeach, receivership, resort, turks and caicos, TurksAndCaicos

Australian Boat Maker In Receivership

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

Australia's biggest luxury boat builder, Riviera, has gone into voluntary receivership. The company operates a boat building facility at Coomera on the Gold Coast in Queensland and exports to more than 30 countries around the world. But like many other yacht builders Riviera has had trouble selling its yachts in the economic downturn. The company fired employees and closed its production line for three weeks recently but is still in crisis. The company may be put up for sale or may go through a restructuring process. Riviera employs 550 people and workers are still at their jobs. Riviera is planning to exhibit in the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show on the Gold Coast from May 21 to 24.

Source

Tags: boats, receivership, riviera yachts, RivieraYachts, yacht

Colibri Goes Into Receivership

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Another jewelry and accessories company has closed down. The Colibri Group is most well-known for their lighters but the brand also manufactures and markets other brands including Seth Thomas, Dolan Bullock and Krementz. The merchandise was sold in 20,000 outlets across the U.S. including both chain and independent jewelry stores The 80-year-old company has gone into receivership with the State of Rhode Island and immediately closed its doors laying off all workers.

Gallery: Brands in Trouble

Source

Tags: bankruptcy, colibri, receivership

Prefab Home Builder In Receivership

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Prefab home builder Empyrean International, the builder of Deck Houses, Acorn Homes, and Dwell homes is the latest victim of the credit crunch. The Massachusetts-based company closed in late October and two weeks ago, a court-ordered receiver took control of the company. The owner of Empyrean, Patrick Gilrane, blames the failure of Lehman Brothers as well as the weakening economy for the closure. He had hoped to restructure and reopen the company next year but the home builder has defaulted on a $7 million loan and has not paid its utility bills or taxes for months. The Boston Globe reports that the receiver, attorney Stewart Grossman plans to put the company up for sale once he puts its affairs in order. The company's roots go back to 1947 with the founding of Acorn Structures. Deck Houses and Acorn homes have crated entire neighborhoods. Over the last few years Empyrean has worked with Dwell magazine to create boxy modernist homes. Dwell plans to continue working on prefab homes with a different builder.

Gallery: Brands in Trouble

Source

Tags: acorn homes, AcornHomes, deck houses, DeckHouses, dwell homes, DwellHomes, empyrean international, EmpyreanInternational, receivership