{"id":6400,"date":"2025-12-24T01:54:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T01:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=6400"},"modified":"2025-12-24T01:54:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T01:54:19","slug":"great-barrier-reefs-hamilton-island-to-be-bought-by-us-private-equity-firm-in-reported-1-2bn-sale-queensland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=6400","title":{"rendered":"Great Barrier Reef\u2019s Hamilton Island to be bought by US private equity firm in reported $1.2bn sale | Queensland"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hamilton Island, a popular tropical holiday destination on the Great Barrier Reef<\/a>, has been sold to a US private equity firm, reportedly for $1.2bn.<\/p>\n

New York-headquartered Blackstone \u2013 which owns the casino-hotel chain Crown Resorts \u2013 released a statement on Tuesday night announcing it had entered into an agreement to acquire the Hamilton Island resort from the Oatley family, subject to customary regulatory approvals.<\/p>\n

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The Oatley family released a statement saying they welcomed the new owners of an island that has a such a \u201cspecial place in the hearts of many Australians\u201d that it has become \u201cAustralia\u2019s Tropical Island\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hamilton is almost 900km north of Brisbane and about 500km south of Cairns on Queensland\u2019s tropical coast.<\/p>\n

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The late Robert Oatley, a billionaire, sailor and winemaker, bought the resort for $200m after spying the island from the deck of a yacht while sailing through the Whitsundays in 2003.<\/p>\n

Blackstone said Hamilton spanned more than 1,130 hectares across two islands, 30% of which is developed, consisting of \u201cfive hotels, more than 20 restaurants and bars, 20 retail outlets, an 18-hole championship golf course on neighboring Dent Island, a marina and a commercial airport\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Catseye beach on Hamilton Island.<\/span> Photograph: David Potts\/AAP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHamilton Island is a significant employer in the Whitsundays, supporting a large on-island community and workforce as well as a broad network of regional partners, suppliers, and local businesses,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s regional head of real estate, Chris Heady, said Blackstone was \u201chonored to build on the vision and dedication that the Oatley family\u201d in the \u201cheart of the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to investing in the long-term success of Hamilton Island, its people, and its local businesses and community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Blackstone owns hotels and luxury resorts in Japan, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and the United States.<\/p>\n

The traditional lands and seas of the Ngaro people, the Whitsundays derive their name from Captain James Cook, who sailed the Endeavour through a passage between the archipelago of 74 idyllic islands on Sunday 3 June 1770 \u2013 the day Whit Sunday is celebrated on the Christian calendar.<\/p>\n

Hamilton\u2019s development boom first began in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

For decades prior to that, it was home to galvanised iron huts and more humble quarters that housed domestic holidaymakers who came in from the outback and from the south.<\/p>\n