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Popular holiday spot attracts major investor
A Queensland holiday resort has been acquired in a multimillion-dollar deal.
Tom Lodewyke
Firms: Thomson Geer (Ingenia Communities Limited); MacDonnells Law (Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort)
Value: $50 million
Area: M&A
Key players: The Thomson Geer team advising Ingenia was led by corporate partner Lucinda Smith (pictured) and property partner Chris O’Shea. Lawyer Arjunan Puveendran assisted.
Deal significance: Ingenia is an ASX-listed property group with 62 communities across Australia. It has acquired Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort under its Ingenia Holidays brand.
Cairns Coconut Holiday Resort is an award-winning tourist park. It includes 325 tourist sites and 35 long-term residences, and has received development approval to construct 34 new cabins.
The resort’s facilities include three swimming pools, a water park, two jumping pillows, mini golf, a camp kitchen, a gym, an outdoor cinema and a tennis court.
“This will become a flagship asset for Ingenia’s Holidays brand and has significant, fully approved opportunities for further growth,” said Ingenia CEO Simon Owen.
Ingenia noted in a statement to the ASX that the acquisition was well timed, with the Queensland government planning to spend $30 million promoting tourism in the next four years.
“Cairns Coconut provides Ingenia with a stable asset; consistent, high-quality cash flows and diversity of tourism revenue, with a strong winter trading period,” said Mr Owen.
Ms Smith said the resort will provide Ingenia a springboard to explore other opportunities in north Queensland.
“It is really satisfying working with a client like Ingenia which has a strong growth strategy,” she said.
“The acquisition establishes Ingenia’s new northern Queensland operations. We look forward to working with Ingenia to continue to grow its market share in Queensland.”
