New owners of the golf course at condado

I've just read a link on simply networking stating that the group olagolf have now taken over our golfcourse - the company olagolf was founded by golfer José María Olázabal.

http://www.simplynetworking.es/news-2768-31-polaris_world_olagolf_assume_operations_at_three_ex-polaris_golf_facilities.html

Wonder if that means we'll get our golf clubhouse now.

This is great news. These new owners are actually in the golf business. Jose Maria Olazabal who founded the company Olagolf will know Nicklaus well and they will speak the same language as far as developing the golf i concerned. There is reason to hope that the courses will get a lot more attention following this change in ownership. 

david

We are on on 1st May hoping to play golf.

Does anyone know the situation, in relation to booking tee times, and the Friday golf society, with the new owners?

Will there still be a residents rate?

J&P

found this article on 'Simply Networking' today.

Polaris World Finances, The Condado de Alhama, Mar Menor and La Torre Sur under new management

2010-04-24

The new operators of the Condado de Alhama, Mar Menor and La Torre Sur Golf courses moved in yesterday to start re-organising their logistical activities.

Olagolf is taking over the three golf courses as part of the package of measures negotiated between Polaris World and the four major banks who have bailed out the company at the last minute, Bancaja, Banco de Valencia, Caja Mediterraneo(CAM) and Banco Popular.

The only official announcement made yesterday said that the refinancing deal announced had allowed the company to, "bring to a close the financial restructuring of the company, which allows it to sally forth again, strengthened, and face the coming years with the same guarantees of success as in the preceding ones, as much in its aspect of real estate promotion and management, as tourism and sporting services, and the construction and sale of property.

It also thanked the financial entities which had supported it in the project of the future Polaris World.

It confirmed that it had filed the escrito with the court to remove it's 15 companies from the state of insolvency and request the cessation of the process it had begun in December.

Now we knew all this almost from first light, and sat on tenterhooks awaiting the anticipated press announcement, but nothing came, indicating that the company are reticent to disclose the terms of this deal.

Without any formal announcement, employees of the Olagolf group, founded by top golfer José María Olázabal, arrived on the resorts to take control of the three courses.

The Director of the Olagolf Group, Felix Escudero  visited Condado de Alhama personally to oversee the handover, and to deal with contractual issues in relation to the staff working at the golfing facilities.

Olagolf are based in Madrid and comprise B.C. Golf Organizaciones, B.C. Consultoría y Proyectos, Olagolf Comunicación, Olagolf Travel, Olagolf Comercial, Olagolf  Gestión and Olagolf Mantenimiento.

This gives them a full portfolio of travel, communication, Maintenance ,Event Management, Design and Project Management.

In 2008-2009 they created a corporate group under the title of Olagolf which incorporates 25 years of professional experience at both national and international level under the one banner.

Their client list, both corporate and institutional, reads like a Who's Who of the spanish business world and it's interesting to note that they're branching out into the Russian market, seeing it very much as a development area for the future.

We reported on the presence of the Murcian Regional tourism promotional stand at a trade fair in Moscow just a couple of weeks ago, and several estate agents locally have talked about the level of interest from both Soviet and Scandinavian buyers.

Since December 22^nd, residents on the resorts have expressed their reservations about the quality of resort management fairly vocally, and some have been very critical of the level of service offered.

Along with everyone else we're hoping a formal announcement will be forthcoming soon, but for now it would appear that the three golf resorts at Condado de Alhama, Mar Menor and La Torre are under new management.

Back to News

There has been a lot of 'doom and gloom' on this forum in recent dates, all of which is understandable due to the ongoing situation with PW, but now I think we have something to be positive about.

THIS IS GREAT NEWS! I have no doubt we will now see  progress of golf course at a rapid pace, including the building of a golf club. Make no mistake, the golf course is the key 'revenue driver' for the succes of the sight as a whole,  and with this news, I can only see the sight moving forward in a positive manner!!

So lets forget 'pint pot half empty', and look forward to it 'over flowing! 

this does sound positive indeed and lets hope the new owners do build a club house we can be proud of and that we will keep the Nicklaus association with the course. I played the course with friends and few times last week and it is superb, even in the condition it is in right now (ie, with some areas needing a good tidy up). We all believed though they are currently playing the course the wrong way around, ie the ninth will make a fantastic finishing hole ! Will take a while to learn how to read the greens, best I could manage was 31 points,

 I found another article on the simply networking site putting on here for information.

The Judge in commercial  court number 2 in Murcia, has today declared that the process of insolvency against 15 companies owned by the Polaris World developer has now been dissolved.
The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Murcia made the announcement this afternoon, now that the legal processes have been completed to end the insolvency process.
The Judge confirmed that the company had presented a written request within the specified time limit stating that it had reached agreement with its ‘ creditors and arranged re-financing which would enable it to move forward with its' business activities.
The Polaris World website statement indicated that an agreement has been reached with the four main banks, Banco Popular, Banco de Valencia, Bancaja, CAMbank and a press release came out from Polaris as follows last week after the announcement of the  agreement:

Polaris World website

23 April 2010: After several months of negotiation Polaris World has today finalised a deal with its creditors (a consortium of four banks) for the clearance of its outstanding debt. The refinancing allows the company to move forward with prospective plans for further development at Terrazas de la Torre resort and Condado de Alhama. Polaris is one of the few major Spanish developers to have survived the credit crisis which started in 2007. With the increase in buyer confidence and property sales seen on the resorts in 2010, largely driven by a return of UK buyers, the news is a further positive sign for owners on the resorts.

These 2 statements would appear to indicate that the re-financing has been arranged with only these four parties, and no further releases have been issued which give details of any assets which have been sold  to clear off debts with other creditors.

Rumours have been abounding all week that the Hotel and Golf Properties had been sold to Olagolf, but a statement issued from the company today confirmed that they have taken over the management and maintenance of the three Golf Courses on behalf of the IRM Group.
IRM group , Iniciativa Resort Mediterraneo, ( Sociedad Inversiones en resorts Mediterraneos, S.L) comprises CAMbank, Cajamurcia, Cajamadrid, Banco popular and Banco de Valencia and already owns much of the land destined for the construction of Condado de Alhama 2, plus a healthy portfolio of other Polaris properties which were "purchased" by them in the re-financing deal which kept the company solvent last year and resulted in the transfer of nearly a billion euros worth of assets to IRM then.
It would now appear that the same group have "purchased" another 83 million euros worth of assets and that these courses have not in fact been sold to an outside buyer, but taken over by the IRM Group. It appears that the hotels and courses have been sold to the IRM group, but that the golf copurses are being managed by Olagolf on their behalf.
No official statement has been forthcoming from Polaris, but Olagolfs' release reads as follows

Olagolf statement

Olagolf assume the maintenance and management of golf in Murcia with an agreement made last week with the Investment Company Mediterranean Resorts, Inc. (IMR).

The golf courses to be managed by Olagolf, are the combination of Condado de Alhama, Mar Menor and Terrazas de la Torre, all located in the towns of Torre Pacheco and Alhama de Murcia. With this new agreement Olagolf is committed to providing services to develop, look after and maintain the courses  to the highest standard to create a considerable challenge and the best possible experience for players. The condition of the courses is the most important factor to ensure a good game, plus  respect for the philosophy of the  designer when creating the course. A design endorsed by the most successful golfer of all time, Nicklaus Golf Trail offers a variety of unique gameplay and the quality seal of Nicklaus Design in each of the holes

This would appear to confirm that the management is on behalf of the IRM group, and not on behalf of any other party.