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May brought the announcement that Orange Lake Resort's parent company, Orange Lake Holdings, had acquired Silverleaf Resorts, Inc. The acquisition of Silverleaf adds 13 vacation properties in six states across the eastern U.S. and 120,000 members to Orange Lake's family of resorts. It doubles the size of Orange Lake Holdings whose resorts span, Florida, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, as well as Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. Silverleaf has been in operation for over 30 years.
Silverleaf Resorts along with Orange Lake's Holiday Inn Vacations® brand, will be operated independently. The two brands together represent 26 resorts, 7,200 villas and over 320,000 members. Club members in each brand will continue to receive all the benefits of their existing membership plans.
Orange Lake CEO Don Harrill, called the acquisition of Silverleaf, "a historic development for both companies". He added, "With our combined reach, we continue to stay on the forefront of providing diverse travel experiences for today’s changing market".
Thomas J. Morris, CEO of Silverleaf Resorts, expressed excitement in joining Orange Lake, "We are excited for the future and the tremendous opportunities this affords us".
Orange Lake’s acquisition of Silverleaf mirrors the industry trend, started in 2009, to consolidation of resorts and away from independent operations. The strength in numbers concept has worked well for many timeshare companies as a buffer to the ups and downs of the economy, and in providing owners a broader selection of vacation options.
Consolidation can offer a lifeline to smaller, private operators who are not large enough to go after public equity and are too small and complicated to interest institutional investors. Other companies that have been involved in recent consolidations are Marriott, Starwood, and Wyndham Resorts.
For more information on Orange Lake Resorts visit: www.orangelake.com or for more on Silverleaf Resorts go to: www.silverleafresorts.com
Image Source: www.silverleafresorts.com
