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Polaris World in talks with creditors
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 @ 4:49 PM

Polaris World, a privately held Spanish real estate company that develops golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, is in talks with lenders to avoid filing for protection from creditors.

The developer, whose courses designed by 18-time golf Major winner are dubbed the “Nicklaus Trail”, notified a court in Murcia about the talks with lenders, an official for the Murcia Superior Court said today in a phone interview. The company has three months to reach an agreement or it will have to file for protection from creditors, said the official, who declined to be identified.

In May 2009 the company’s lenders, including Banco Popular SA and Spanish savings bank Caja Murcia, agreed to cancel 970 million euros ($1.4 billion) of debt in return for real estate assets, according to a company filing. Polaris World still has about 900 million euros of debt, El Mundo newspaper reported.

Phone messages left with Nicklaus Design in North Palm Beach, Florida, were not immediately answered. Spokesmen for Banco Popular SA and Caja Murcia declined to comment. Calls made to Polaris World went unanswered.

Source: Businessweek.com

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vcb said:
Thursday, December 31, 2009 @ 2:40 PM

We understand that financing has been agreed and will be announced shortly. Let’s see. At the end of the day running the Polaris World resorts and golf can be a profitable business. The expensive bit has already been paid for i.e. building it courtesy of the banks. They put in a few hundred million to get it to this point and they are the big losers here. However this shapes out we should still see the resorts and golf continue to be run and Polaris World as a business will survive even if they have to fold a limited company to get rid of the debt and be reborn as a different entity. I can’t see that happening as I doubt that Credit Suisse will let their 30%+ stake go that easily at this point in the economic cycle. Property sales (resales) and interest has picked up considerably since 12 months ago. Also the political pressure in Murcia for Polaris to continue is massive. Expect to see some financing soon….

Moraira Property said:
Monday, January 11, 2010 @ 12:05 PM

We certainly hope that a solution for this nightmare can be found. Not necessarily for the benefit of Polaris but more importantly for those who have already bought into these golf complexes. This type of property works in the USA. Hopefully, a way of making this concept successful can be found or there will be a massive loss of value for this asset class in Spain

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