Sunterra’s bid for Epic Resort’s assets successful

Friday, Oct. 3, 2003 | 10:54 a.m.

A Las Vegas-based company will enter the Southern Nevada time share market when it acquires assets of Epic Resorts in a bankruptcy sale.

Sunterra Corp. announced Thursday that its $25 million cash offer was accepted by Epic's creditors in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding that began in 2001.

Final approval of the deal is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. A hearing is scheduled Tuesday and if the sale is approved, the deal is expected to close by the end of the month.

Under terms of the deal, Sunterra would acquire King of Prussia, Pa.-based Epic's resorts in Las Vegas; Hilton Head, S.C.; Daytona Beach, Fla.; and Scottsdale, Ariz. Other Epic assets the company would receive are time share units, but not the management contract for a development in Palm Springs, Calif., and a small number of units within a larger property in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Sunterra also would take over management of the 16,000-member Epic Vacation Club.

The Las Vegas Epic property, known as Desert Paradise Resort, has 152 units with a capacity of about 7,900 owners. A spokesman for Sunterra said his company doesn't have an accounting of how many time share owners have units at the Las Vegas property, located on Decatur Boulevard, south of Tropicana Avenue.

Sunterra has 87 affiliated resorts in the continental United States, Europe, the Caribbean, Hawaii and Mexico.

"Sunterra is pleased to have the opportunity to expand its global portfolio of vacation ownership resorts through this acquisition," said Sunterra Chief Executive Nicholas Benson in a statement announcing the deal. "We believe this will be beneficial to the members of both the Sunterra and Epic communities and we intend to continue our search to make additional strategic acquisitions."