Timeshare Information

Club Intrawest - Palm Desert

Diamond Resorts International, Inc. (DRII) reported last week that they have a definitive agreement to purchase Intrawest Resort Group (IRCG) from Intrawest Resort Holdings, Inc. The $85 million purchase is contingent upon specific closing date adjustments and completion is expected by the first quarter of 2016.

Acquisition Adds Nine North American Resorts

DRII has a network of more than 350 vacation destinations in 34 countries. The nine IRCG resorts included in the acquisition are in North America. In a press release DRII President and CEO David Palmer commented, "Both acquisitions provide us with significant value creation opportunities through synergies, sales innovation and cost savings. We are confident that acquisitions such as these will enhance our financial profile and create long-term shareholder value."

Intrawest Enthusiastic About Agreement

Tom Marano, Chief Executive Officer of Intrawest Resorts, expressed his enthusiasm for the agreement, "With the additional cash from this transaction, we are well positioned to continue driving organic growth at our mountain resorts and adventure businesses, while also pursuing strategic acquisitions and evaluating opportunities to unlock the value of our real estate holdings over time." IRCG, a mountain resort and adventure company, develops, sells interests in, and manages Club Intrawest, a points-based timeshare vacation club.

What Does it Mean for Owners?

CEO Tom Marano said this about the agreement, "We are committed to working closely with Diamond Resorts to execute a seamless transaction and look forward to a long-term relationship that we believe will benefit club owners and our resorts alike." The transaction includes the management contracts with Club Intrawest, the current balance of notes receivable, approximately four acres of undeveloped land, and the current balance of points available for sale.

According to a recent article in Barron's, Diamond Resorts has made seven acquisitions since 2010. In addition to the Gold Key deal in August, Diamond also announced a partnership with Och-Ziff to develop a 144 unit resort in Kona, Hawaii. Diamond will buy the units, manage the property and handle the sale of VOI’s. The project, expected to finish in 2017, could generate $400 million in VOI sales. Diamond’s Gold Key acquisition in August added six resorts in Virginia and North Carolina with 30,000 owners.

Often when a transaction like this one occurs, rumors fly and owners often feel some trepidation. The whole industry is consolidating and on the positive side, that gives consumers more options for exchanging and often a higher trade value. However, timeshare used to be very entrepreneurial, with folks providing unique and individual service. With conglomerations formed by consolidation, that often goes away. There are advantages and economies of scale, but along with it the individuality of resorts evaporates. Intrawest used to be keen on each resort being singular - will this change now?

Club Intrawest, a private vacation club with eight locations across Canada, the United States and Mexico, has its community of members raving about ExtraOrdinary Escapes.

This private exchange collection allows members to use their membership to explore resorts, hotels, and lodging around the world in popular destinations like New York City, Hawaii, Paris, Tuscany, Hong Kong and beyond. All ExtraOrdinary Escapes properties are hand-picked by Intrawest’s industry professionals.

“We realize that members might want to venture outside the Club Intrawest network for a vacation every now and then,” says Chris Thompson, Executive Director of Membership Programs, who has been with Intrawest Resort Club Group (IRCG) for 14 years.

“Whether it’s celebrating a special event or taking that once in a lifetime vacation we want our Members to be able to stay connected to the most unique vacation club in the world while they make the memories of a lifetime.”

ExtraOrdinary Escapes (which also incorporates an RCI component) has grown to encompass relationships with Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Disney Vacation Club.

ExtraOrdinary Escapes is also very selective about which properties it includes in its portfolio. This is to ensure that the quality of the timeshare exchange partners meets the high expectations of members.

ExtraOrdinary Escapes is one of IRCG’s primary assets. With escape options that include storm watching at Vancouver Island’s Wickaninnish Inn (one of the highest rated hotels in Canada) to the excitement of Las Vegas (Hilton Grand Vacations Club at the Flamingo) and the thrill of New York City (West 57th Street by Hilton Club) ExtraOrdinary Escapes offers hundreds of additional vacation options to the Club’s 22,000 members.

Since opening its first location in 1994, people from 48 countries have joined Club Intrawest, enjoying the Club Intrawest locations as well hand-picked hotels, resorts and lodging properties.