Closing of $30.5m investment into Playa Grande

RNS Number : 7794W

Dolphin Capital Investors Limited

12 November 2014

 



12 November 2014

DOLPHIN CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED

("DCI" or "Dolphin" or the "Company"

and together with its subsidiaries the "Group")

Closing of $30.5 million investment by Melody Business Finance into Playa Grande

As previously announced on 23 September 2014, Dolphin had signed a non-binding term sheet with an institutional investor for a potential mezzanine debt investment in Playa Grande Club & Reserve, the Company's luxury resort complex situated on the north coast of the Dominican Republic ("Playa Grande" or the "Project").

The institutional investor is US-based Melody Business Finance LLC, acting on behalf of managed and affiliated funds ("Melody"), who has since been performing legal, financial and technical due diligence on the Project and who has now entered into final agreements with DCA Holdings Six Ltd (the Company's subsidiary holding the Group's shareholding in Playa Grande, the "Borrower") for a $30,500,000 mezzanine facility (the "Facility"), which will be drawn down immediately in its entirety.  

The basic terms of the Facility are as follows:

·     The $30.5 million Facility amount, minus closing costs, will be injected in Playa Grande to fully fund the completion of the Aman hotel and significant other value-adding leisure facilities, the golf course renovation and cover all other on-going overheads, expenses and debt service of Playa Grande at least until the end of 2015.

·     The Facility has a term of six years and two months, and a fixed 8% + Libor (minimum 2%) interest rate, paid quarterly in arrears. 100% of the interest can be PIKed during the first two years and up to 50% thereafter depending on the Project's net cashflows, a portion of which will go towards servicing the Facility.

·     For repayment purposes the Facility is structured in two equal tranches, "Tranche A" and "Tranche B". Dolphin will be entitled to repay Tranche A at any time after 20 months from Closing without any pre-payment penalty. Tranche B will be considered repaid in full at any time upon Melody receiving an amount that would represent the greater of a) a 1.35x multiple or b) a 15% internal rate of return, on the Tranche B funds.

·     The Facility is structured on a mezzanine basis, having no recourse to or guarantee from Dolphin. The Facility is guaranteed from Dolphin Capital Americas (which also owns Dolphin's 60% stake in Pearl Island) but only in case of certain bad faith and/or intentional acts by Borrower.

With this Facility, the first phase of Playa Grande will now comprise an Aman hotel of 38 pavilions, with 24 single suites and seven two-bedroom hotel suites, the Aman beach club, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. golf course currently renovated by his son, Rees Jones, spa and fitness facilities, a new golf clubhouse, a kids club, and a collection of Aman Villas, serviced by the hotel. Playa Grande is one of the Company's Advanced Projects and is expected, upon completion planned for October 2015, to start generating considerable revenues both from the hotel operations and from Villa sales.

Melody is an affiliate of Melody Capital Partners, LP, a New York based private investment firm with a unique strategy of crafting solutions in partnership with issuers. Melody has over $1 billion in capital and focuses on senior secured loan origination, direct lending and other investments in North America and Western Europe.

Eric Tanjeloff, Head of Real Estate Investments and Cesar Gueikian, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, of Melody, stated: "We are very excited to have partnered up with the team at Dolphin. They are a world class team with great vision, execution and managing capabilities. We hope to work with them on many projects going forward in the Americas and around the world. The process of structuring and closing this particular transaction in a cooperative fashion between the Melody and Dolphin teams is rooted in both team's philosophies of creating and unlocking value. The quality, location and attractiveness of the Playa Grande asset are impressive. It will attract and impress people from around the world. We believe in Dolphin's vision for the property and are delighted to be part of it."

Pierre Charalambides, Founding Partner of the Investment Manager, speaking on behalf of Dolphin, said: "We are excited to be partnering with Melody in delivering the most fascinating new resort opening in the Caribbean during 2015. We look forward to expanding this partnership further and in parallel concluding other transactions in mature projects of the Dolphin portfolio in order to unlock their significant expected returns."

The Board of Dolphin and the Investment Manager believe that the conclusion of the Facility is a very important transaction for the Company as:

1.   It enables Dolphin to accelerate the completion of a number of leisure facilities that will enhance the Aman Hotel offering, such as beach club, golf clubhouse, spa, gym, tennis, kids' club and others, and to cover all general Project overhead costs and debt service until the Project generates operational profits.

2.   It allows the Company to optimize the capital structure of Playa Grande without relying on pre-sales and avoid the need to inject additional equity into this phase of the Project.

3.   It establishes a strategic relationship with Melody, a leading alternative finance investor.

CBRE Capital Advisors and AXIA Ventures have advised Dolphin on this transaction.

For further information, please contact:

Dolphin Capital Partners Miltos E. Kambourides Pierre A. Charalambides Katerina G. Katopis Eleni Florou	[e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]
Panmure Gordon (Joint Broker)                                                       Richard Gray / Dominic Morley / Andrew Potts	[phone]
Edmond de Rothschild Securities (Joint Broker) William Marle John Denby	[phone] [e-mail] [e-mail]
Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser) Philip Secrett	[phone]
FTI Consulting, London Stephanie Highett Claire Turvey Nick Taylor	[phone] [e-mail]

Notes to Editors

Dolphin (www.dolphinci.com) is a leading global investor in the residential resort sector in emerging markets and one of the largest real estate investment companies quoted on AIM in terms of net assets. Dolphin seeks to generate strong capital growth for its shareholders by acquiring large seafront sites of striking natural beauty in the eastern Mediterranean, Caribbean and Latin America and developing sophisticated leisure-integrated residential resorts.

Since its inception in 2005, Dolphin has become one of the largest private seafront landowners in Greece and Cyprus and has partnered with some of the world's most recognised architects, golf course designers and hotel operators.

Dolphin's portfolio is currently spread over approximately 63 million m² of prime coastal developable land and comprises 14 large-scale, leisure-integrated residential resorts under development in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Turkey, the Dominican Republic and Panama and a 49.8% strategic shareholding in Aristo Developers Ltd, the largest developer and private land owner in Cyprus.

Dolphin is managed by Dolphin Capital Partners, an independent real estate private equity firm.

- ENDS -

 

END

 

 

MSCELLBFZFFZFBF