9 months ago
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The company that once held the former Renaissance Jamaica Grande Resort, which was once one of the tallest hotels in the country, is finally being wound up by the Jamaican government, years after the property was offloaded.
A trustee is being sought to manage the liquidation of Jamaica Grande Limited.
“The decision to dissolve the company is now imminent,” the tender document stated, while noting that the only income it derives is from its deposits.
“The company’s operations have been dormant since the sale of its flagship hotel, relying solely on interest income from retained deposits to fulfil certain obligations.”
Jamaica Grande Limited has four shareholders, the Jamaican government through Financial Institutions Services Limited, with the largest interest of 49.5 per cent; Renaissance International Inc, which is aligned with Marriott Hotels, holding 22.5 per cent; Fred Kassner Estate, 20 per cent; and Louis Pohoryles, 8.0 per cent.
The appointed trustee will be responsible for monetising all assets, settling outstanding debts, including taxes and trustee fees, and distributing any resulting surplus to the shareholders.
Jamaica Grande Limited sold off its assets in August 2004, after a decade of operation, significantly reducing its debts in the process and ultimately ceasing operations in September of that year.
The trustee will be given seven months to sell off the assets, wind up the company and have it delisted from the Companies Office of Jamaica’s register.
The hotel spans 14-storeys with roughly 700 rooms. It started operations in the early 1990s as a merger of the Mallards Beach and Americana hotels back in 1991.
The property fell into the Jamaican government’s possession, via Finsac, during the financial crash of the 1990s and the subsequent rescue of banks and insurance companies mounted by the state. Finsac was an affiliate of Financial Institutions Services.
The hotel property was eventually sold to Montego Bay businessman Ian Kerr and the Hendrickson family in 2004. Kerr is the son-in-law of patriarch and business mogul Karl Hendrickson. Then in 2014, it changed ownership again to Mexico-based Palace Resorts and now operates as Moon Palace Jamaica.
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