Outrigger comments of sale of selected operations

Outrigger Enterprises Group has entered into an agreement to sell selected operations in Australia and New Zealand to MFS Limited, a publicly-held Australian investment firm. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year.

The transaction includes the sale of management and letting rights — and associated real estate interests — for 13 properties Outrigger manages in Australia and New Zealand, plus the management rights for six additional projects currently under development.

The Outrigger brand and the right to use it, and Outrigger’s other Pacific operations – including six properties operating or under development in Bali, Fiji, Tahiti and Guam – are not included in the transaction.

Senior Vice President Operations, Dave Lawrence who moved to Australia from Hawaii in 1998 to expand the Outrigger brand in the South Pacific, said the transaction was a strategic move in line with the company’s long-term expansion activities throughout Australia and Asia Pacific region.

“The Outrigger brands, or the right to use them, are not part of the transaction with MFS; each resort will be re-branded from an Outrigger resort to a brand within MFS’s Stella Resorts Group.

“We will use the proceeds to acquire other assets and to continue to position Outrigger Enterprises Group as a regional leader in hospitality, retail and developments,” Lawrence added.

Outrigger Enterprises owns commercial office space on Queensland’s Gold Coast and will continue to operate from its regional headquarters at Surfers Paradise, with a core group of executives employed by Outrigger’s Hawaiian-based head office responsible for identifying new projects.

MFS will retain all Australia and New Zealand employees who wish to continue working with the new owners. Additionally, Outrigger will continue taking reservations for the properties until operations are transferred to MFS at the end of 2006.

“It will be business as usual at all of the properties. We will be working closely with MFS to ensure a smooth and seamless transition to the new management group on behalf of both our employees and our guests,” Lawrence said.

“This transaction does not change our commitment to this very special part of the world,” Lawrence said. “We have developed very strong relationships with leading developers and tourism operators over the past eight years and we will be actively seeking to identify other opportunities in Australia, New Zealand and Asia where we can bring the Outrigger brand,” he added.