Resorts Group buys Resorts USA in $32.5 million deal

In a transaction completed on Dec. 15, Resorts Group Inc. purchased Resorts USA Inc. from Rank Group PLC for $32.5 million. The sale included Fernwood Hotel & Resort, The Villas at Tree Tops and Fairway, Minisink Financial Corporation and Outdoor World. Financing for the purchase was provided

Fernwood Hotel & Resort is a 440-acre four-season property located in the Pocono Mountains. Bordered by the scenic Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, the resort includes a 125-room hotel with 60,000 square feet of banquet facilities; an event center that seats up to 2,000; an indoor video game area; a Winter Fun Center with snowtubing and horseback riding; an 18-hole, par 71 golf course; seven indoor and outdoor pools; fitness facilities; canoeing and rafting on the Delaware; several venues presenting live entertainment; and a family activities center.

The Villas at Tree Tops and Fairway, located adjacent to the hotel, is composed of timeshare units ranging from one to four bedrooms and is one of the largest vacation ownership properties in the Mid-Atlantic region with over 17,000 member families. It is known for its diverse, year-round amenities. In total, the Fernwood and Villas properties welcome over 500,000 guests annually.

Minisink Financial Corporation is a loan servicing and collections company specializing in third-party loan and maintenance dues servicing, automated payment processing and delinquent collections. It also provides and supports file custody, lock box, back-up servicing, disaster recovery and multi-lingual customer service and collections.

Resorts Group partners include CEO, W. Andrew Worthington; CFO, Kevin Lavelle; COO, Mark Turner; Vice President of Marketing Gina Bertucci; General Counsel Thomas Casale; Director of Sales Kurt Rawding; and Vice President of Timeshare Marketing josh Herschlag. joining the ownership team is Harry Van Sciver of Whitebriar Financial Corporation. Whitebriar Financial is a Massachusetts company that specializes in financial transactions for the resort, timeshare and travel industry. The company has purchased or financed loans larger than $10 million to smaller than $25,000.

Textron Financial was established in 1962 to provide commercial financing for distributors of its parent company Textron Inc.