A global brand name in the travel industry, Belmond Ltd., of the United Kingdom, now owns Cap Juluca in Anguilla, having purchased the five-star resort at Maundays Bay from Charles and Linda Hickox. After some months of negotiation, the sale of the property, formerly referred to as “Anguilla’s flagship”, was closed on Friday, May 26, with the signing of the legal documents in the Executive Chambers at the Law Firm of Keithley Lake & Associates.
Cheques for the payment of transfer fees, stamp duty and other taxes, were presented to Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers who was then acting for Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks, who was off island on official business. The presentation of the cheques was made by Mr. Michael Bourne, a partner of Keithley Lake & Associates and Lawyer for Belmond. “The actual quantum of 3.917 million US dollars was deposited in the Government of Anguilla’s account in NCBA as a result of the closing of the sale,” Mr. Rogers told The Anguillian. “Mr. Michael Bird, CEO of NCBA, was gracious enough to allow the bank to remain open on Friday afternoon for the transaction.”
Later, representatives of Belmond Ltd. met with the employees of Cap Juluca. “It is an important day for us and we are hoping it is also an important day for you as well,” Mr. Philippe Cassis, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Belmond Ltd., told them. “Together, as of now, we are formally Belmond Cap Juluca. It is something that we started in our mind about a year ago and became more active in over the last four or five months. We are pleased that our team managed to conclude this transaction and to team up with you. It is something we believe is a pretty unique opportunity that we have together to bring back an iconic property that many of you have contributed to over so many years.”
Mr. Cassis said Cap Juluca was a fantastic 48th addition to his company’s chain of hotels, and that arrangements had been made to ensure a smooth transition of the staff to Belmond Cap Juluca. Belmond also owns luxury trains and river cruisers – unique features of its operations.
Replying to a question, Mr. Cassis said that over the coming months Belmond would be developing a renovation plan for the entire Cap Juluca resort and that technical teams would be arriving in Anguilla this week to determine the scope of the renovation. “At some stage we will have to close in order to be able to do a comprehensive renovation of the entire resort. We will do it all at once rather than in pieces,” he explained.
Asked whether the several villas, which were closed, would be brought back into operation during the new tourism season, the Belmond Operating Officer replied: “Those villas are definitely part of the renovation plan and any legal matter has now been resolved – and they have been integrated into the overall scope of the resort. They are eighteen units that we will definitely want back into our inventory – not this season but the following season.”
Mr. Cassis added: “One of the areas of hard work we went through was to reunite Cap Juluca, and now it is no longer what it was in the past with different sections. It is now one integrated entity.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Mr. Victor Banks, now back on the island, commented that his Anguilla United Front Government had experienced a learning curve with the sale of Cap Juluca. He stressed that the property had all kinds of legal issues as well as a number of problems with the previous Government. Under that administration the former Cap Juluca owners were not granted an alien landholding licence, a lease agreement, a business licence, or a signed Memorandum of Understanding. The then Government also declined to accept any payments from the Hickoxes who were handicapped by the situation, and sued the Government for some US $25 million dollars.
“In that context, we realised that the only way to move forward on Cap Juluca was to bring in a new buyer and a buyer who is capable of unifying the property because 30% of the property was closed down,” Chief Minister Banks explained. “We are now pleased to have Belmond as the buyer which owns property around the world including La Samanna in St. Maarten. As the owner and operator of Cap Juluca they are in a very good place, having a property on a sister island. It is a good fit; we are very happy with the new Belmond operators. They have demonstrated that they are people of their word and were able to ensure that the employees of Cap Juluca are going to be re-employed; and we are looking forward to a good relationship with the Belmond Group.”
