Bluegreen Timeshare

Following the same path of Wyndham Vacation Ownership timeshare and Westgate Resorts timeshares, Marriott Vacation Club has laid off (or is in the process of letting go) just over 170 workers.

The pink slips started showing up just before Christmas at the Orlando timeshare call center, marking the second recent round of employee layoffs at Marriott timeshare. In November, approximately 80 timeshare employees were let go by the company, which claims it is being hurt by the credit crunch less than other timeshare companies have been. At that time, The Orlando Business Journal reported that Marriott timeshares anticipates rehiring as many as 31 positions during the process of closing one timeshare sales operation (the Horizons project) and expanding at another location.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Ed Kinney, Marriott’s vice president of corporate affairs, said that because Marriott does much of its own financing, they were not being squeezed as tightly by the tight international credit market and slowed consumer spending as are some timeshare developers.

Kinney says the current round of layoffs should be complete in January. Other timeshare companies cutting back and laying off in Orlando and elsewhere include: Wyndham Vacation Club, Westgate Resorts timeshare, and Bluegreen Resorts.

The financially troubled residential community and vacation resort development company, Bluegreen, continues to announce employee layoffs. Bluegreen timeshares are closing three Wisconsin offices and laying off 110 workers as of January 20, when they will close their marketing facilities in Wisconsin Dells, Baraboo, and Sun Prairie. Breaking this down, the layoffs means 25 jobs lost in Sun Prairie, 16 lost at the Wisconsin Dells Parkway office, and 69 layoffs at the company’s Christmas Mountain Road offices.

Wiscnews.com stated that the Wisconsin Department of Workforce development (DWD) says the company intends the layoffs to be permanent, although Wisconsin Dells Mayor, Eric Helland, said that he believes the jobs will eventually come back.

Early last week Bluegreen timeshare announced that 122 employees will be laid off in Florida, (many at their Boca Raton headquarters). The company then followed that announcement on Friday with the news that an additional 182 workers in Orlando will also be let go.

In Indiana, Bluegreen Timeshare plans to layoff up to 92 employees after the first of the year.

The situation at Bluegreen timeshare is similar to the problem facing other timeshare developers who found themselves overextended at a bad time, as credit got tighter and consumer purchases declined.

Other recent news about Bluegreen Timeshare from The Timeshare Authority:

• Bluegreen Timeshares and Westgate Timeshare Mogul Settle Pending Lawsuit
• Credit Crisis May Change the Deal for Bluegreen Timeshare Resorts
• Bad News for Bluegreen Timeshares

Bluegreen timeshares is the blog topic again today here at The Timeshare Authority. Last week, Bluegreen Corporation settled a pending lawsuit with Orlando timeshare magnate, David Siegel, another timeshare industry name who makes our timeshare blog from time to time.

David Siegel founded Central Florida Investments, the parent of the Orlando timeshare company, Westgate Resorts. In recent months, Siegel had acquired 2.3 million shares of Bluegreen timeshare’s common stock. He also had options that would have given him nearly 10 million shares, or about 32 percent of the company’s stock, if he exercised those options.

But this was already in the pipeline when Westgate Resorts timeshares announced budget cutbacks and massive layoffs in response to the credit freeze. A Sept 29, Orlando Sentinel article, said this of Siegel, “He blamed the national financial meltdown and said until the situation in Washington straightens out, Westgate and all other time-share companies likely are in for very hard time.”

Bluegreen’s board had voted and approved bylaws to allow them to dilute the value of Siegel’s holdings, but not the value of other existing shares held primarily by those Bluegreen shares held through the Levitt Corp.

Under the terms of the new settlement, Siegel and his associates must reduce their Bluegreen holdings by at least 5.4 million shares within a year and within two years, have disposed of all of them. Additionally, pending the sale, Siegel’s shares must be voted in accordance with the recommendations of the Board of Directors of Bluegreen. David Siegel has agreed to not pursue any takeover of Bluegreen nor seek to influence Bluegreen’s management.

The Timeshare Authority will continue to keep you abreast of the changes, shake ups, and shake downs in the timeshare industry … interesting times we are living in, to say the least

Other recent posts about Westgate Resorts Timeshares:

• Hotels, Timeshares, and the Bailout
• Layoffs Coming at Westgate Timeshare

Other recent posts about Bluegreen Resorts Timeshares:

• Credit Crisis May Change the Deal for Bluegreen Timeshare Resorts
• Bad News for Bluegreen Timeshares

According to information released Friday in the South Florida Business Journal, and other sources, the planned acquisition of Bluegreen Resorts and timeshares is on hold. For some time, Bluegreen timeshare resorts and Diamond Resorts have been in negotiation over Diamond Resorts’ bid to buy Bluegreen for $500 million.

The credit crunch seems to be gnawing away at this buyout deal, but whether it chews it up or spits it out may not be known for a few weeks. Bluegreen timeshare has given Diamond Resorts until November 15, with exclusive right of negotiation in Bluegreen’s acquisition. After that date, Bluegreen is free to shop other investors for a better price.

There has been a lot going on at Bluegreen timeshares lately with continued news about the buyout as well as company problems with allegedly improper timeshare sales tactics used in Pennsylvania timeshare sales. But none of what is going on takes away from the satisfaction many Bluegreen timeshare owners feel about their vacation ownership properties. Bluegreen has been a respected brand in the timeshare industry for many years, with thousands of timeshare buyers and renters enjoying quality vacations at Bluegreen resorts.

Read more Bluegreen timeshare news from The Timeshare Authority:

• HOT List Timeshare Number 55 – The Bluegreen Resorts
• Bad News for Bluegreen Timeshares