Banyan Tree to sell Seychelles assets for $70 million to Middle East buyer |26 July 2018

Banyan Tree Holdings (BTH) has announced its intentions to sell its entire assets portfolio in Seychelles for a sum of US $70 million to a buyer from the Middle East.

The portfolio comprises the Banyan Tree Resort, located at Anse Intendance, Takamaka, as well as the land plots it owns in Seychelles.

This information was revealed in a short article published on Tuesday on the website of Business Time, a Singaporean financial daily.

The general manager of Banyan Tree Resort Seychelles, Fabrice Collot, further confirmed this strategic move to the Seychelles NATION yesterday.

Mr Collot disclosed that the first part of the agreement, a conditional Share Purchase Agreement, between BTH Group and the buyer, was signed on Monday (July 23) in Abu Dhabi.

The agreement remains yet to be finalised since the completion of the transaction is dependent on the written consent from the government of Seychelles.

According to Mr Collot, this process will take about two to three months.

Mr Collot also noted that BTH Group will continue to manage Banyan Tree Resort Seychelles under a hotel management agreement.

“This change will have no repercussions on our employees whatsoever,” Mr Collot said. He further added that BTH Group is very pleased to remain with Banyan Tree Resort Seychelles.

Banyan Tree Resort is a five-star luxury hotel with 280 employees of whom 70% are Seychellois.

It has been operating in Seychelles since 2002 and Mr Collot added that the new property owner is anticipated to insert fresh capital into the resort though renovations which will elevate the resort to higher standards.

The sale has been categorised by BTH as the group's strategy to rebalance its assets in the normal course of business and “to unlock the value of its mature assets to create greater value from other markets”.

Mr Collot was not at liberty to disclose the name of the buyer and a thorough online research did not reveal such information.