Bluegreen agrees to sale for $500 million

Palm Beach Business.com

BOCA RATON — Bluegreen Corp. said Monday that it has signed a nonbinding letter to sell itself to Diamond Resorts International for $500 million. The deal was announced after the close of trading.

The offer translates to $15 a share, more than twice Bluegreen’s closing price on the day. Bluegreen finished at $6.44, up 17 cents.

After-hours trading was a different story: the stock shot up $6.96 to $13.40 shortly after the announcement. Bluegreen’s previous 52-week high was $11.96.

The deal is subject to the completion of due diligence and the execution of definitive agreements.

Under the terms of the letter of intent, Bluegreen has granted Diamond Resorts an exclusive right negotiate a definitive deal ion through September 15.

Diamond Resorts, based in Las Vegas, is one of the largest timeshare companies in the world, with 110 branded and affiliated resorts throughout the continental United States and Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. Bluegreen owns timeshares and other vacation home properties in Florida, Missouri, Texas, Virginia and other states.

Bluegreen expects that  a definitive agreement to include a “go shop” clause that would allow Bluegreen to find a better deal, if it can.

“Bluegreen had previously announced that we were positioning the company with a view towards pursuing strategic alternatives at some point in the next three to five years,” Bluegreen Chairman Alan B. Levan said. in a statement. “When Diamond presented our Board with this unsolicited, attractive offer, we believed that it was in the best interest of our shareholders to pursue this transaction at this time.”

Bluegreen was formed in 1966 as Patton Corp. to sell recreational properties in Vermont. It moved Boca Raton in he early 1990s.