Phoenix investors buy Marc Resorts

Advertiser Staff

A group of investors headed by Phoenix-based Heller-White Hotel Management has bought Marc Resorts Hawaii from its bankrupt parent, Sunterra Corp., for a minimum of $1.1 million.

In addition to a guaranteed payment, Orlando-based Sunterra will receive 25 percent of Marc Resort's pre-tax profit for the next 15 years, which could substantially raise the selling price.

Marc Resorts president Matt Delaney said the new owners will continue to operate the company under the Marc Resorts name and keep the current 250 employees.

Marc Resorts manages, but does not own, 15 hotel and condominium projects on five Hawaiian islands.

Delaney, who will stay on as president, said he plans on adding two or three new properties to the Marc Resorts group each year.

Mitch Heller and Kent White, the principal investors, owned the Ilikai Hotel in the late 1980s.

"Kent and I are happy to return to Hawai'i and are anxious to begin working ... to further enhance guest service and profits for our property owners," Heller said in a statement.

Heller and White used Pacific Area Realty to bring the deal together and evaluate the purchase price, Delaney said.

Delaney said Marc Resorts has had an occupancy rate of 82 percent through the first six months of this year thanks in part to discounts that cut the average daily room rate by 15 percent from where it was a year ago.