It is alarming – and disingenuous – that The Brilla Group and other third party owners of four and one-half of the 18 villas at Cap Juluca appear to be speaking on behalf of the current Government of Anguilla. In an article published in The Daily Herald on Friday May 16, 2014, these individual owners – who have kept their villas padlocked for two years – are attempting to discredit the Hickox’ ownership of Cap Juluca, as well as to cover up deliberate attempts by various parties to remove control of the property from us.
The issue at hand has nothing to do with Anguilla’s right to development. We built Cap Juluca in the late 1980s, and are devoted to future property development in spite of the 26 minority owned, empty rooms presently wasting on the site. Over the past two years, we have submitted five MoU proposals with respect to capital improvements to the existing property and future development. The reality is that the minority villa owners are still trying to wrest control of the property from us and are manipulating the Government of Anguilla to achieve this goal. This obvious plan is evident from the minority owners’ statement that they continue to have a structure in mind for their takeover. This plot failed at the private treaty sale and will continue to be doomed. Despite the scheme of the minority owners exercising undue influence, the government still appears to support them.
The Daily Herald placement by the minority owners is replete with false statements and deliberately distorts the truth. These are the facts:
(a) Cap Juluca is not continuing to deteriorate. Since May 2012, we have personally invested over $15 million cash in Cap Juluca. All the villas, rooms and restaurants controlled and managed by us have been updated with new FF&E, as well as infrastructure, back-of-house and other improvements to the property. Guests have been very receptive and supportive, and the resort is showing very strong occupancies year round. In the past two years the property was rated the #1 Beach Resort in the World by Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report and the Best Resort in Anguilla by US News and World Report. The only villas deteriorating are the shuttered and neglected minority-owned villas that have had minimal maintenance and no investment or upgrades over the past two years.
(b) Cap Juluca continues to employ over 250 Anguillians and there is no uncertainty of their future, other than that created by the minority owners’ propaganda. The Government of Anguilla has the clear authority to insist that the minority-owned villas be included in a rental pool. The only jobs lost at Cap Juluca are a direct result of these units being padlocked by the minority owners.
(c) We, the Hickoxes, have always had an ALHL for our ownership and security rights in Cap Juluca from 1986 until May 2012, when the property ownership was legally transferred from us individually to Anguillian companies that we own. A new application was filed to reflect the change from personal ownership to corporate ownership, as a result of the public auction and private treaty sale. It is incomprehensible that the Government of Anguilla is making a distinction, especially because the corporate ownership provides a much more secure and debt-free solid base.
(d) It is an absolute fact the Government of Anguilla insisted that we obtain a new financial partner. The Government of Anguilla refuses to allow the asset value of Cap Juluca to be considered as part of the ALHL application and recently suggested it will not allow any debt financing for the property. This is not only highly unusual, but lacks legal precedence. The Government goes further by mandating that the partner be the managing and controlling partner. These requirements are well beyond the traditional responsibility of government and appear to be an effort to deprive us of our fundamental ownership rights. If the government continues with this position, it will set a dangerous precedent which could affect foreign investment in Anguilla for many years to come – with economic repercussions that will impact all Anguillians.
It also should be noted that while the minority owners, in tune with the government, are now suggesting that the property should have no debt, they themselves structured their investment in Cap Juluca with combined collateralized debt and equity in the form of a sublease. This was allowed for them by this government, but not for the Hickoxes. This is evidence of continuing prejudice and shifting goalposts. Furthermore, this is exactly the same structure which we have proposed to prospective investment partners.
(e) We have made multiple offers to the private villa owners to include their villas in the rental pool, but they have refused. Although these villas are required to be in the rental pool under terms of the existing MoU and sub-lease agreements, the minority owners have deliberately chosen not to do so. They have not only forfeited revenues for themselves, but have caused the loss of approximately 100 Anguillian jobs – jobs that have deprived the Government of Anguilla tax revenues. We again invite the minority owners to include their villas into the rental pool as required, however we will also continue with capital improvements to Cap Juluca – as well as with new development based on an ALHL and a new MoU – without waiting for the inventory of the inactive minority owned villas.
(f) Without question, we are the majority owners of Cap Juluca. We held valid ALHLs at the time that the property was acquired, and we control 13 ½ of the 18 villas and 70 of the 95 rooms, all public areas and restaurants, infrastructure and back of house, as well as all operations of the resort. Ownership rights were legally acquired at a public auction on May 2, 2012, and under a Private Treaty Sale with the Joint Liquidators on May 4, 2012.
Why is the Government of Anguilla trying to invalidate our ownership while playing into the hands of the absent minority owners? We have invested years of our lives and a significant amount of personal wealth to develop Cap Juluca as the jewel in the crown of Anguilla. We have made new and substantial cash investments in Cap Juluca to keep it open and operating, while the Joint Liquidators and the minority owners were making every effort to close the property. In fact, Cap Juluca was set for closure in 2011 – with the potential loss of 400 Anguillian jobs – until the Hickox family came to its rescue by lending more than $3 million to keep the hotel open.
Ultimately, we have employed hundreds of Anguillians while the minority owners have only created unemployment with their ongoing legal and political mischief – all of which are clear attempts to impede the Hickox’ ownership and operations of the property.
We are willing and able to bring in an investment partner, and want to continue improving and developing Cap Juluca. All we need to proceed is a new ALHL and MoU from the Government of Anguilla. It is not the role of government to dictate how the property should be capitalized nor is it their place to arbitrarily strip us of ownership and management rights.
We remain ready to meet with the government to resolve these issues and invite them to do so as soon as possible. In the meantime, perhaps the government should speak for themselves, rather than allowing the minority owners at Cap Juluca to do their deeds for them.
Charles and Linda Hickox
