Golf Inc. Monthly - January/February 2016

Top deals of 2015

Every year tells its own story. In 2014, it was the year of the megadeal. That was not the case in 2015.

“It has been a really interesting mar-
ket this year,” said Steven Ekovich, first
vice president and director of Leisure
Investment Properties Group’s national
golf division. “It’s unlike any of the past six
years.”
The gap in expectations between buyers
and sellers is the largest he has ever seen.
Buyers are still looking for distressed assets,
and for the first time in a while, there aren’t
many.

“It’s been more difficult to make deals this year,” Ekovich said.

But big sales did occur, usually for single properties. The two biggest deals were in the United Kingdom. Other sales had more to do with right-sizing.

“There’s an effect where we are reacting
to the overbuilding of the 1980s and 1990s,”
said PM Realty Group Vice President Ken
Arimitsu. “In 2016, you’re going to see a
lot of obsolete properties going away, and
that helps the surrounding courses because
there’s less supply.”

1. Gleneagles Hotel and Golf Resort

Buyer: Ennismore

Seller: Diageo

Price: £150m, or approx. $225 mil.

Owned by Diageo, the British alcohol company behind Guinness and Smirnoff, for more than three decades, the recent Ryder Cup host venue, Gleneagles Hotel and Golf Resort in Scotland, sold for about £150m, or approx. $225 million, this summer. Diageo sold the property because it was not a core asset and it felt no time would be better for a good price, since it had just hosted the Ryder Cup.

Ennismore, a private investment company, won the deal after battling the final bidder, KSL Capital Partners, which bought Cameron House, this year’s second biggest deal.

Ennismore is primarily in the hotel busi-
ness. It has made its name by renovating
old buildings and turning them into bou-
tique hotels with a cool vibe. It is unclear
how Gleneagles fits within its core busi-
ness.

Gleneagles features 54 holes on three courses, including Jack Nicklaus’ PGA Centenary Course, The King’s Course, The Queen’s Course, a nine-hole practice course and a PGA National Golf Academy.

Nicklaus described his course as “the finest parcel of land in the world I have ever been given to work with.”

2. Cameron House

Buyer: KSL Capital Partners

Seller: QHotels

Broker: CBRE

Price: £70 million, or approx.

$106 million

The year ended with the sale of Cameron House and Carrick Country Club, two sister properties located in Glasgow, Scotland. According to The Scotsman newspaper, the properties sold for an estimated £70 million, or approx. $106 million, to KSL Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity firm based in Denver, Colo. The seller, QHotels, had purchased the property from De Vere in November 2014.