PALMA DE MALLORCA — The Barceló Group’s move to take over the hotel chain Occidental Hotels Management has now been consummated with Mexican competition authorities voicing no objection to the tender offer.

Last May 4 Barceló purchased the first tranche of shares of Occidental Hoteles, namely minority shareholders had holdings in their capital and, in total, accounted for 42.5% of the capital of the company.

Subsequently, Barceló agreed to acquire the remaining 57.5%, which was owned by the BBVA bank. Both operations were conditioned to obtain the relevant authorization of the competition authorities in Mexico; authorization has already occurred and, therefore, the Barcelo Group was established as sole owner of Occidental Hotels Management, whose current portfolio consists of 4,011 rooms in 11 hotels located in Mexico (6), Dominican Republic (2), Costa Rica (2) and Aruba (1), plus two establishments will be operated under management in Colombia and Haiti. Barceló is studying major renovation plans of the acquired hotels, whose work may involve an investment of between $120 and $150 million.

For more information you can contact the Canada office representing Barcelo Hotels and Resorts and Occidental Hotels and Resorts at 416-445-7666 or go to barcelo.com.

With the acquisition, Occidental will no longer be represented in Canada by VoX International.

“Occidental was the first client for VoX in September 2002. Over the past 13 years, we have developed amazing partnerships, achieved significant sales increases and hosted, planned and attended many memorable fam trips, travel shows, product launches, webinars, media events, training sessions and wedding events for Occidental in Canada,” said president Susan Webb.

“I would like to personally acknowledge, Carolina Bellina of Occidental Hotels. Working from Santo Domingo for Occidental, her dedication to the Canada market is legendary. She supported the efforts in Canada by our tour operators, incentive planners, retailers, wedding specialists and media, and we thank her for her support over the years.”

The WinWithOccidental agent incentive program has been discontinued, but all bookings made prior to Aug. 17 will be honoured and gift certificates will be sent to travel agents for all qualified bookings.