Posted on: Tuesday, November 5, 2002

Mainland company to buy Bay Club

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Bay Club time-share at the Waikoloa Resort on the Big Island is in negotiations to be sold by its Japan parent corporation to a Mainland time-share operation, company officials said yesterday.

The Bay Club's parent corporation, Tokyo-based Azel Corp., is closing a deal to sell the Honolulu-based Nikken Corp., Quality Resort Management Inc. and the Bay Club Ownership Resort Inc. to a major company that operates time-shares on the Mainland and in Hawai'i, said Scott Fuchigami, general manager at the Bay Club.

The sale will be finalized any day but is not a reflection of Hawai'i's growing time-share industry, said Richard Lachmann, a Honolulu attorney who also serves as Nikken Corp.'s secretary.

"It all comes from the parent company in Tokyo and their needs, whatever they are," Lachmann said. "It had nothing to do with operations here. If the decision was based on operations alone, I don't think they would have taken the decisions they did, in my opinion."

The Bay Club has 172 units on 15 acres at the Waikoloa Resort.

Last week, Honolulu-based Nikken Corp., Quality Resort Management Inc. and the Bay Club Ownership Resort Inc. notified state officials that a "transfer of operations" at the three companies will affect most of the companies' 171 employees by Dec. 31.

The goal is to have a seamless transition between owners when the change takes effect Jan. 1, Fuchigami said.

"Time-share is the fastest-growing segment in the hospitality industry," Fuchigami said. "It's just unfortunate that our parent company in Japan just didn't work out because of the Japanese economy and they had to shut down their Hawai'i operation."