• Submitted by: manso
• Business and Economy
• 05 / 29 / 2011

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Vancouver-based resort builder Leisure Canada announced a rights offering to existing shareholders, aiming to raise $5 million (Canadian) in working capital.

Holders of common shares in Leisure Canada as of June 9 will have the right to subscribe for up to 41.5 million shares at a discount price of 12 cents a share, representing some 25 percent of outstanding common shares.

The rights offering is managed by Dundee Securities Ltd. The securities company is a subsidiary of Toronto-based real estate and financial asset management company Dundee Corp., which owns at least 11 percent of Leisure Canada’s shares. Dundee founder Ned Goodman is chairman of Leisure Canada.

Leisure Canada shares closed 14 cents (Canadian) Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, down from a high of 24 cents in January.

The company is planning to build a hotel in Havana and a golf resort at Jibacoa, half-way between Havana and Varadero.

The Monte Barreto project in western Havana and Jibacoa have long been in the making. Planning for the 716-room hotel in Havana is complete, and Leisure Canada said last year it put out a request for proposals to find a general contractor, but construction has not started. While the company recently updated the ready-to-go Jibacoa project to include 600 bungalows and villas for sale, the Cuban government has not given the final green light yet. Leisure Canada recently announced an agreement with the Professional Golfers’ Association Ltd. for the future licensing of the PGA brand at Leisure Canada golf projects in Cuba.

The company is also proposing a hotel on Cayo Largo del Sur, off Cuba’s southwest coast, to be operated by Spain’s Sol Meliá.

Source: www.cubastandard.com/2011/05/28/