Colony Capital


Colony Capital, Inc. is an American international investment firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company has over 350 employees operating in 20 offices around the world. Colony Capital invests in real estate and real estate-related debt investments, real estate-dependent operating companies, non-performing loans, distressed assets and select development opportunities throughout the world. Colony's dealings in distressed assets has led to several sources citing it as an example of vulture capitalism.
The company is run by businessman and Donald Trump ally, Thomas J. Barrack Jr. In 2010, Colony was reported to manage about $30 billion in investments. In 2011, Colony was tied for 3rd largest private equity real estate fund in the world, behind Blackstone Group and Morgan Stanley Real Estate.

History

Early investments

Colony purchased Raffles International on July 18, 2005. This included the 41 hotels and resorts operated under the Raffles Hotel and Swissotel brand names. There are plans to expand the chains, particularly in Asia. On January 30, 2006, it acquired Fairmont Hotels and Resorts of Toronto, Ontario with Kingdom Hotels International as a joint partner for US$3.24 billion. On April 10, 2006, it acquired French professional football team Paris Saint-Germain.
On February 25, 2007, it signed a definitive agreement to take Station Casinos private in a 75%/25% split with members of the founding Fertitta family for US$5.5 billion, or US$90/share. The subsequent economic downturn caused Station Casinos to declare bankruptcy in 2009, and when it emerged in 2011 Colony Capital owned a much smaller portion after providing more cash. Founder, Chairman, and CEO Thomas Barrack said it "could have been the worst investment ever" in terms of timing.
On November 11, 2008, Michael Jackson transferred the title of his 2,700 acre estate Neverland Ranch to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC, a joint venture between Jackson and an affiliate of Colony Capital. It is still unclear whether Colony Capital has a part in the property. Jackson earned a total of US$35 million when he agreed to the joint venture between himself and Colony Capital.
In March 2010, Colony arranged a financing and marketing package for Annie Leibovitz. The New York celebrity photographer had been in financial difficulty and in danger of losing to her previous lender, ArtCapital, the rights to her photographs and negatives and her three Greenwich Village townhouses. ArtCapital's credit was for $24 million. In December 2010, Colony purchased Miramax from Disney with Qatar Investment Authority, Tutor-Saliba Corporation and The Weinstein Company as part of a joint venture called Filmyard Holdings for $663 million.

Recent investments

In January 2017, Colony NorthStar, Inc. was formed through a tri-party merger between Colony Capital, Inc., NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc. and NorthStar Realty Finance Corp..
In September 2017, Colony NorthStar agreed to sell its Townsend Group unit to Aon for $475 million.
In October 2017, Colony entered discussions to purchase The Weinstein Company, a movie and TV production studio that sustained damage after its co-founder, Harvey Weinstein, was accused of multiple counts of sexual harassment over three decades. In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault scandal, in late October 2017, it was reported that Colony Capital LLC had proved hesitant to purchase Weinstein Co. after a week of exclusive negotiations. Fortress Investment Group was also in talks to provide a loan to Weinstein Co.
In June 2018, The New York Times reported that Colony North Star had raised more than $7 billion in investments since Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. 24 percent of the money came from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Leadership

Senior Executives

Source:

Types of investments

Investment funds

The traditional investment portfolio at Colony are their investment funds, in which retail investors pool their funds, such as with mutual funds.

Casinos and hotels

A large part of Colony LLC investment portfolio involved gaming resorts mainly in the United States. Some were joint projects with Accor Casinos.
Colony was also involved in investing in luxury hotels and resorts in Asia and North America: