New Château Montebello owner announced after bankruptcy sale

Chateau Montebello is seen in a 2007 file photo. Photo by Mike Carroccetto /Postmedia

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The winning bid for the iconic Fairmont Château Montebello was awarded to Westmont Hospitality, the Mississauga-based company that owns, manages and advises hundreds of hotels across the globe.

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Westmont was one of five binding offers that was considered by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the court-appointed receiver for the hotel and its properties after it was put up for sale in 2024.

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Hong Kong-based real estate conglomerate China Evergrande had purchased the 211-room Château Montebello in 2014 as its first major investment in the Canadian real-estate market, but was ordered to liquidate $245 billion in worldwide assets as part of bankruptcy proceedings.

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Westmont Hospitality Group has operated, advised or had ownership interests in more than 1,100 hotels across the world and its current hotel portfolio contains more than 500 hotels ranging from two- to five-star properties, full service to limited service business hotels, large conference hotels, aparthotels, boutique hotels and high-end luxury hotels and resorts.

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The group has “extensive experience acquiring and repositioning hospitality assets and has the operational infrastructure, management expertise and financial resources to close the proposed transaction with certainty and within the time frame required,” according to the court filing.

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Château Montebello would continue to operate under the Fairmont brand and management following closing.

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The sale will require the approval of a Quebec Superior Court judge, with a hearing set for Aug. 3 in Montreal.

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The market for a prospective buyer was “canvassed broadly, fairly and transparently,” according to PWC, which received 33 letters of intent in the first phase of bidding. That list was narrowed to 19 qualified bidders in the second phase with 11 binding offers, which was further narrowed to five binding offers in the third phase of bidding.

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“The market was tested not once but three successive and increasingly competitive phases, culminating in a final round of bidding that yielded materially improved offers,” according to PWC.

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The value of Westmont’s winning bid was not disclosed. The Westmont bid “does not represent the highest headline cash consideration” among the five final offers, according to the court filing. One other qualified bidder submitted a binding offer with a higher cash value, but did so on the condition that PWC terminate the existing hotel management agreement.

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PWC said in the court filing that Westmont’s offer represented “the most favourable outcome for the debtors and their stakeholders.”

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