Westmont Hospitality Group is poised to become the new owner of the Fairmont Chateau Montebello after winning the bidding process for the historic hotel in Montebello, Que. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) filed a report to the Quebec Superior Court last Friday, saying it has concluded Westmont International Development Inc. “is the successful bidder” for the nearly 100-year-old resort. Chinese real estate firm Evergrande owned the property, but was ordered to liquidate $245 billion in worldwide assets in 2024. A Quebec judge named PricewaterhouseCoopers as the official receiver for the resort. In a report to the Quebec Superior Court, PWC said Westmont’s successful bid “does not represent the highest headline cash consideration among the binding officers received in Phase 3.” But the PWC report notes the higher bid wanted to terminate an agreement for Fairmont to continue to operate the property. The Fairmont Chateau Montebello is operated under a hotel management agreement (HMA) dated Sept. 29, 2006. “A key distinguishing feature of Westmount’s successful bid is that it provides for the assumption of the HMA. By contrast, the competing bid offering a higher headline price required the disclaimer or termination of the HMA,” PWC said. Westmont Group has owned and operated or advised hotels across North America, Europe, Japan and Africa since launching in 1975. “The current hotel portfolio consists of 500+ hotels. Westmont Hospitality has a very diversified portfolio ranging from 2–5-star properties, full service to limited-service business hotels, large conference hotels, aparthotels, boutique hotels and high-end luxury hotels,” it says on its website. The bid price submitted by Westmont Hospitality was redacted from the report. According to PWC, Westmont’s acquisition will preserve the employment of more than 350 employees and Fairmont’s “historical role as operator” of the Chateau Montebello. A Quebec Superior Court judge will rule on the purchase on Monday in Montreal. PWC received five bids in the third phase to purchase Chateau Montebello. Earlier this month, Devcor Group CEO Jean-Pierre Poulin said a bid by a group of local investors for the Fairmont Chateau Montebello was not accepted. The group included Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer, Martin Paquette of Spa Nordik and Charles-Antoine Hallé and Edouard Wakim of Elevate Real Estate Properties. The Fairmont Chateau Montebello was originally built in 1930, and now has 210 rooms on approximately 925 acres along the Ottawa River.
