Royal Caribbean Group’s agreement to pay about 10 times forward EBITDA for half of Sandals Resorts International has given Caribbean investors a private-market price for all-inclusive resorts. 

Applying that price to the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) is harder than it looks, because the exchange lists almost no companies that own and operate Caribbean resorts.

Royal Caribbean will pay about US$3 billion for a 50 per cent stake, valuing Sandals and Beaches at roughly US$6 billion. That the multiple implies about US$600 million in annual EBITDA for the group. Neither company has published Sandals’ earnings. Tradingpedia, citing the Financial Times, described the US$6 billion as enterprise value, which would mean the multiple already accounts for debt.

The nearest listed comparison

The closest public-market reference left the market last year. Hyatt bought Playa Hotels & Resorts, the Nasdaq-listed owner of all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, for US$13.50 a share, or about US$2.6 billion including roughly US$900 million of net debt. Playa had guided to 2024 adjusted EBITDA of US$250 million to US$255 million, according to an analyst note cited by Hotel Investment Today. On those figures, Hyatt paid a little over 10 times EBITDA, close to the Sandals multiple.

The premium is the more useful number for equity investors. Hyatt’s offer was 40 per cent above Playa’s share price before talks became public. Working back from that premium, public investors had been valuing Playa’s whole business at roughly 8.5 times EBITDA before a strategic buyer arrived.

What the JSE actually offers

Sagicor Real Estate X Fund is the exchange’s main listed hotel owner, but its hotel earnings come from a DoubleTree by Hilton in Orlando, Florida, according to the Jamaica Observer. Its Jamaican exposure is about 1 per cent of the portfolio, the Gleaner reported from the fund’s first-quarter results. X Fund posted a record 2025 profit of J$1.01 billion. Any multiple the market assigns it reflects US hotel conditions, not Caribbean resorts.

The other tourism-linked listings are suppliers, transport and attractions, including Caribbean Producers, Dolphin Cove, Express Catering and Knutsford Express. NCB Capital told clients in December that Hurricane Melissa would weigh on these companies for several quarters. Caribbean Producers had already reported a 25.8 per cent fall in year-to-date earnings before the storm, and Dolphin Cove was expecting US$300,000 in restoration costs. Their earnings move with visitor arrivals, but none owns resort rooms, so a resort EBITDA multiple does not transfer to them directly.

Market reaction

Royal Caribbean’s own shareholders did not treat the price as a bargain. The stock closed 6.1 per cent lower on the day news of the talks broke, and the purchase is being funded with new debt from Morgan Stanley.

On the limited evidence available, 10 times appears to be the price a strategic buyer pays for control of a scarce Caribbean resort portfolio, rather than a level at which comparable listed stocks have traded. Regional brokers have not yet published notes applying the Sandals multiple to local names.