Royal Caribbean Agreed to Pay $3 Billion for Half of Sandals Resorts in a Bet on All-Inclusive Vacations

Royal Caribbean Group agreed to acquire a 50 percent equity interest in Sandals and Beaches Resorts for approximately 3 billion dollars, a deal that pairs the world's largest cruise operator with a family-owned all-inclusive resort chain and values the combined Caribbean vacation business at roughly 6 billion dollars. The companies' joint announcement put the transaction at roughly ten times Sandals' forward earnings, with Morgan Stanley providing committed debt financing for Royal Caribbean's side of the deal.

Two family-run brands joining forces

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and Chief Executive Jason Liberty framed the deal as a natural extension of the company's push beyond ships alone, saying "our partnership with Sandals and Beaches Resorts is an important next step on that journey, bringing together two iconic leading vacation companies." Sandals Resorts Executive Chairman Adam Stewart, whose family has run the Jamaica-founded chain for decades, described the move in similar terms, saying "this partnership is the natural next step in building on that conviction. It gives us the ability to grow faster with a partner that shares our values."

How the joint venture will be run

CNBC's coverage of the agreement reported that Stewart will remain Executive Chairman of Sandals and Beaches Resorts under the new joint venture structure, with Liberty continuing to run Royal Caribbean Group separately, an arrangement designed to keep day to day operations at each brand largely unchanged while combining their commercial and marketing muscle. The deal is expected to close in early 2027, subject to customary regulatory approvals, and Royal Caribbean has said it expects the investment to be accretive to earnings the following year.

A bet on the all-inclusive resort market

The transaction marks Royal Caribbean's most significant move yet into land-based vacations, an adjacent business it has approached cautiously compared with rivals that have built out private islands and resort footprints more aggressively. Pairing a cruise line with more than thirty million annual passengers against an all-inclusive resort chain concentrated in Jamaica, Antigua, Saint Lucia, the Bahamas and Grenada gives Royal Caribbean a cross-selling opportunity it has lacked, one that both companies are betting will prove more valuable together than either brand's guest list could deliver alone.

Advisers on both sides of a sizeable deal

BofA Securities and PJT Partners advised Sandals on the financial side of the transaction, with Latham and Watkins and Jones Day providing legal counsel, while Perella Weinberg Partners and Morgan Stanley advised Royal Caribbean alongside legal counsel from Kirkland and Ellis. The size of that advisory roster reflects how significant the deal is for both companies, even against a cruise and travel industry that has already seen a wave of consolidation and cross-sector investment this year.