Luxury Property Developer La Zagaleta Acquires Valderrama Group for €40 Million

MALAGA, Spain, January 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Zagaleta Limited, a UK subsidiary of Grupo la Zagaleta Holding, headquartered in London and the owner of the luxury resort and gated community by the same name in Benahavis (Malaga) today announced that it has acquired the Valderrama Group, the owner, amongst other assets, of the world famous Valderrama Golf Course, in Sotogrande, San Roque (Cadiz) generally considered to be the best in Spain and one of the world's top golf courses, as well as the Real Estate Project known as Valderrama 2, located nearby in Castellar.

The transaction is valued at €40 million and includes, as well as the golf course, a number of development plots located around the Valderrama Golf Course and the registered trademarks.  Price Waterhouse Coopers advised the company for all financial, legal and tax matters.

The development of a new 'Championship' Golf Course is included as part of the Valderrama 2 project.  It will be designed and laid out by one of the leading and most prestigious specialist landscape architects in this field.  It will be benchmarked against the current Valderrama course as well as against other luxury residential resorts and communities and hotels of similar standards and facilities to those already offered today by La Zagaleta.

The residential project will follow the same model and philosophy as the residential and services business already successfully developed over the past 25 years by la Zagaleta in Benahavis and Marbella.  The project will represent an investment into the area of €200 million over the next 10 years".

Jacobo Cestino, Managing Director of La Zagaleta Group in Spain said: "This transaction confirms our position at the forefront of the high end luxury property market as well as connecting us to one of the world's most prestigious golf brands.  The company has not discounted the possibility of acquiring other luxury and lifestyle brands over the medium term."

The Valderrama Golf Course was designed by the specialist architect Robert Trent Jones and is considered to be the best golf course in Spain.  It is also rated the best course in Europe and amongst the top 100 in the world according to Golf Digest.   In 1997 Valderrama played host to the first Ryder Cup to be played in Continental Europe. Severiano Ballesteros captained the European Team.    Since then the course has played host to most of the Volvo Masters tournaments (1988-1996 and 2002-2010)  as well as to the American Express World Championships in 1999 and 2000.

Representatives of la Zagaleta Limited have already contacted the Management of the Royal Valderrama Golf Club about the acquisition of the Group and have underscored their intention and desire to continue the relationship with the Real Club Valderrama and enable is maintenance, conservation, exclusivity and privacy to continue.  The Real Club de Golf Valderrama have the current concession for the golf course and it is this independent and arms length management that has enabled the Club to become a benchmark in Europe.

The Zagaleta Group was established in 1991.  It gives its name to one of Europe's most exclusive, private and secure gated communities and resorts.  The condominium extends over 900 hectares of which almost 500 hectares are green spaces.  Facilities of the resort include a heliport, a country club - El Club de Campo La Zagaleta - two golf courses and an Equestrian Centre all of which are for the exclusive use of the members and their guests. The Company operates under strict financial control and between 2014 and 2015 the Company posted accumulated profit of €14 million.  The company is currently building a number of new properties for 2016.  The indicative price range for these will be between €12-14 million.

La Zagaleta today boasts more 230 properties on plots ranging between 3000 m² and 10000 m² that are valued between €5 and €25million each.