Sunterra Corporation to Acquire Assets of Epic Resorts
LAS VEGAS, Sunterra Corporation (BULLETIN BOARD: SNRR) today reported that it was the successful bidder for the assets of Epic Resorts ("Epic") with an all cash bid of $25.0 million. Subject to final confirmation by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the "Bankruptcy Court"), the transaction is expected to close by the end of October 2003.
The Epic Vacation Club, a points-based vacation club with approximately 16,000 active members, features six different resort locations in Hilton Head, South Carolina; Daytona Beach, Florida; Scottsdale, Arizona; Palm Springs, California; Lake Havasu, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada. There are also approximately 4,500 owners of Epic timeshare weeks at the Hilton Head and Daytona Beach resorts.
Epic's assets include management rights to the Epic Vacation Club and four of the resorts, as well as inventory assigned to Epic Vacation Club, development land at the Hilton Head location and unsold inventory at the resorts.
Nicholas Benson, Sunterra's CEO, said, "Sunterra is pleased to have the opportunity to expand its global portfolio of vacation ownership resorts through this acquisition. We believe this will be beneficial to the members of both the Sunterra and Epic communities, and we intend to continue our search to make additional strategic acquisitions."
A hearing to confirm the sale is scheduled to take place in the Bankruptcy Court on October 7, and Sunterra will communicate further details of this transaction and its plans for integrating this acquisition into its business following that hearing.
Sunterra Corporation is one of the world's largest vacation ownership companies with 87 (excluding the Epic resorts noted above) affiliated resort locations in the continental United States, Europe, the Caribbean, Hawaii and Mexico. A copy of this press release will be available in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.sunterra.com .
NOTE - FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, regarding, among other things, our operations outlook, business strategy, prospects and financial position. These statements contain the words "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "may," "will," and similar words. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by the forward looking statements are contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K under "Risk Factors" including, without limitation, to matters arising from our emergence from proceedings under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Any or all of these factors could cause our actual results and financial or legal status for future periods to differ materially from those expressed or referred to in any forward-looking statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made.
Bryan D. Coy
+1-702-304-7140
Diamond Resorts