Global Attractions to buy 79.99% of Dolphin Cove in bankruptcy-driven sale
What's the deal? Global AttractionsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Ltd, a St Lucia-incorporated company, has agreed to buy the 79.99% controlling stake in Jamaican-listed marine attractions operator Dolphin CoveDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Ltd. The seller is majority shareholder World of Dolphins Inc., under a share purchase agreement dated July 9, 2026. The sale price was not disclosed; the identity of those behind Global Attractions is not public.
Why now? The sale ends more than a year of uncertainty tied to the US Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Leisure Investments Holdings LLC, trading as The Dolphin Company, which is the ultimate parent of World of Dolphins. Leisure Investments filed for protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in March 2025, with a hearing scheduled for July 20.
What's driving it? World of Dolphins pledged all its Dolphin Cove shares as collateral for a US$100 million senior note issued by the group's Mexican holding company, Controladora Dolphin SA de CV. That note defaulted, and creditors holding security over the shares have driven the sale.
The deal follows a wider disposal of The Dolphin Company's global assets through the Delaware proceedings, including the Miami Seaquarium lease for a reported US$22.5 million, Marineland for US$7.1 million, and Gulf World for US$4.55 million.
The numbers: Dolphin Cove is navigating a sharp downturn. Revenue fell 39% in the first quarter ended March 2026 to US$2.5 million, and profit dropped 83% to US$140,000, reflecting reduced visitor arrivals after Hurricane Melissa. The stock last traded at J$11.59.
What could go wrong? Completion depends on conditions, including refinancing and discharging Dolphin Cove's existing credit facility with Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited. Global Attractions must also make a mandatory offer to remaining shareholders within 30 days of acquiring control, under Jamaica Stock Exchange takeover rules.
What changes for shareholders? Founder Stafford Burrowes, who sold his majority stake to World of Dolphins in 2015, still holds about 9.8% and remains chairman. He will be among those entitled to a mandatory offer once the deal completes.
The signal: The sale shows how a global operator's collapse cascades into local markets, with a distressed parent's debt forcing the change of control at a listed subsidiary far from where the bankruptcy was filed.
Image credit: Adrian Lawrence
