THE National Insurance Fund (NIF) is planning to pay $150 million for National Commercial Bank’s (NCB) 51 per cent stake in Breezes Montego Bay, thus becoming the sole owner of the hotel.

SuperClub’s operating lease for the 124-room all-inclusive property will automatically expire with the sale. NIF is expected to negotiate a new lease arrangement, though it remains unclear if it will seek a new operator.

Breezes, located on beach land at Gloucester Avenue in Montego Bay, next door to the popular Doctor’s Cave Beach, was built in 1995 by NCB Investments — then the investment arm of the banking group. It is now owned by another NCB subsidiary, the West Indies Trust Company (WITCo).

At the time of the construction, NCB retained 51 per cent of the shareholding, with the remaining 49 per cent being purchased by the NIF. To date, the NIF has spent a total of $271 million on the hotel — the purchase price, as well as its contribution to ongoing upgrade and refurbishing of the property.

Sources say that NIF has not been able to get any dividend from the investment, and that the board believes that full ownership and a new five-year operating agreement could change that.

The National Insurance Fund has a 10 per cent stakehold in Beaches Negril, which is operated by Gordon “Butch” Stewart. It also owns Grand Lido Braco, which, like Breezes MoBay, is run by John Issa.