Hilton Grand Vacations to Acquire Bluegreen Vacations

Big news in the vacation ownership world, Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corporation has just announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Hilton Grand Vacations.

Bluegreen Vacations has been acquired for $75 per share with an all-cash transaction. This represents a full value of $1.5 billion, including net debt. The Bluegreen Vacations’ stockholders will receive $75 in cash for each share of the Company’s Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock that they hold at the time of closing of the merger.

The History of Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corporation

The predecessor of Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corporation was founded by Alan B. Levan in the 1970’s. Over the past 50 years, it has been a diversified holding company. It has held controlling interests in:

• IRE Financial Corporation (former NYSE) (real estate funds)
• BankAtlantic (former NYSE) (100-branch bank)
• Levitt Corporation (former NYSE) (America’s oldest homebuilder)
• BBX Capital Corporation (Real Estate: multi-family housing, industrial, affordable housing; chocolate/confections; manufacturing)

Most recently, in 2020, it became the holding company for Bluegreen Vacations. BBX Capital then spun out into a separate public company that same year.

Bluegreen is one of the most popular vacation clubs in the industry, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. Bluegreen Vacations boasts a network of 49 Club Resorts and 24 Associate Resorts. The company has an impressive selection of vacation properties in top destinations including Orlando, Hawaii, New Orleans, Myrtle Beach, Las Vegas, Branson, and many others. Some of their top properties include:

• The Fountains Orlando
• Pono Kai Resort
• MountainLoft Resort
• Harbour Lights
• Manhattan Club

More About The Aquisition

Company Chairman and Chief Executive Officier, Alan Levan, spoke on the opportunities that this acquisition provided for Bluegreen Vacations:

“Today’s announcement represents another exciting chapter for Bluegreen Vacations. Combining with HGV will create an even more compelling vacation ownership offering, continuing to provide our owners and guests with enjoyable and unique experiences across a broader range of world-class destinations. I am extremely proud of the entire Bluegreen team for helping build Bluegreen into a leading vacation ownership company.”

Mark Wang, president and CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations, also commented:

“I’m excited to enhance the breadth and quality of our already best-in-class vacation ownership and experiences offering with the announcement of our agreement to acquire Bluegreen Vacations. Bluegreen Vacations has a strong track record of demonstrated organic growth, a dedicated customer base of more than 200,000 members, and boasts key lead-generating strategic partnerships that will broaden our reach and diversify our tour flow. Along with our long-standing relationship with Hilton, this highly complementary combination will also unlock additional upside by leveraging the infrastructure we have built over the past few years with the launch of the Hilton Vacation Club brand, our HGV Max membership offering, the HGV Ultimate Access experiential platform. I’m particularly excited about the opportunity to enter into a new relationship with Bass Pro Shops and its actively engaged, loyal community of outdoor enthusiasts. We’re confident that our members and guests will all significantly benefit from the combination of these exceptional organizations.”

The transaction is set to close sometime during the first half of 2024, pending the approval of the Company’s stockholders and other standard closing conditions.

Once the transaction officially closes, Hilton Grand Vacations’ management team, including President and CEO Mark Wang, chief financial officer Dan Mathewes, and chief operating officer Gordon Gurnik, will continue serving in their roles.

For HGV, their membership will increase from 525,000 to over 740,000. Additionally, Hilton Grand Vacations’ resort portfolio will increase from 150 to nearly 200 properties.

Credit Suisse Securities and Wells Fargo are acting as exclusive financial advisors to the Company, and Stearns, Weaver, and Miller is acting as legal counsel. BofA Securities is acting as the exclusive financial advisor for HGV, and Alston & Bird LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and Foley & Lardner LLP, are acting as legal counsel.

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