Singapore sovereign fund bids $1.5b for five resorts

Government of Singapore Investment Corp, which has shares in Hyatt, has bid US$1.5 billion for five US luxury resorts controlled by billionaire John Paulson. They made the bid public during a bankruptcy court hearing in mid February. CNL-AB LLC (a joint venture of Paulson & Co., Winthrop Realty Trust and Capital Trust Inc.) acquired the five resorts and three others last month through a foreclosure proceeding and immediately took the five properties into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protec­tion. The joint venture says the bankruptcy filings are an attempt “to further restructure the company's debt at the property level and to improve operations during a time of recovering fundamentals in the hospitality industry.” The filings effectively eliminated about US$800 million of debt and preferred equity. The Singapore fund and Paulson have each offered bankruptcy loans for the company, which will seek approval for the financing by the end of the month, according to Bloomberg.