Royal Caribbean Confirms $3 Billion Deal for 50% of Sandals and Beaches, Backed by Morgan Stanley Debt

Royal Caribbean Group has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Sandals and Beaches Resorts for approximately $3 billion, according to Yahoo Finance and a wmbdradio.com report. The transaction creates a joint venture that pushes the cruise operator into land-based all-inclusive resorts, extending a diversification push that already includes the company's Perfect Day and Royal Beach Club private destinations, according to wmbdradio.com and CNBC.

Deal terms confirmed after weeks of reports

Royal Caribbean Group said it has agreed to buy half of Sandals and Beaches Resorts, the Caribbean all-inclusive operator founded in 1981 by the late Gordon "Butch" Stewart, wmbdradio.com reported. Sandals operates properties in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and other destinations, and has been the subject of sale speculation for nearly a decade, according to the same report. The deal would add Sandals’ 20 resorts to Royal Caribbean’s portfolio, broadening its exposure to travelers who prefer resort stays over cruises, wmbdradio.com said, while CNBC, reporting before terms were confirmed, had described Sandals and Beaches as having more than a dozen Caribbean properties.

Royal Caribbean said the transaction values the resort business at approximately 10 times forward EBITDA, according to Yahoo Finance.

How the $3 billion is being funded

Royal Caribbean said it has secured committed debt financing from Morgan Stanley to fund the acquisition, both Yahoo Finance and wmbdradio.com reported. The company has not disclosed any use of cash on hand or new equity issuance in connection with the deal, and none of the available reporting addresses the expected effect on Royal Caribbean’s balance-sheet leverage or on its capital-return plans. Separately, three weeks before the announcement, on September 1, 2026, Royal Caribbean’s board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per common share, payable October 8, 2026, according to a company press release carried on PR Newswire. The reporting reviewed does not address whether that dividend will be affected by the new debt financing.

Governance: a joint board, Stewart stays in charge of the brand

Governance of the joint venture runs through a board jointly led by Jason Liberty, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, and Adam Stewart, executive chairman of Sandals Resorts, according to wmbdradio.com. Stewart is set to remain executive chairman of Sandals and Beaches Resorts and continue overseeing the brands’ long-term growth strategy, the report said, while Yahoo Finance similarly reported that Stewart will retain a leadership role in the joint venture following completion of the transaction. The structure mirrors an arrangement Royal Caribbean already uses elsewhere: the company operates 71 ships across Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea, plus a 50% joint venture interest in TUI Cruises, which runs the Mein Schiff and Hapag-Lloyd brands, according to the company’s dividend release.

Earnings impact and closing timeline

The transaction is expected to close in early 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, according to Yahoo Finance and TradingView. Royal Caribbean said it expects the investment to be accretive to earnings next year, but the company did not quantify the anticipated financial contribution or specify whether the stake will be consolidated or accounted for under the equity method, Yahoo Finance reported. Under the joint venture, the companies plan to expand the Sandals and Beaches resort portfolio and broaden distribution of their vacation products, per the same report.

From $6 billion whole-company talk to a $3 billion stake price

Before terms were confirmed, CNBC reported that Royal Caribbean was nearing a $3 billion deal to take a 50% equity stake in Sandals, while separately noting that the deal "values the Caribbean resort chain at $6 billion," attributed to a person familiar with the matter. Those two CNBC-reported figures differ by $3 billion, or 50% (3 minus 6, divided by 6, times 100, equals -50%). Our reading of that arithmetic: the confirmed $3 billion stake price is consistent with a $6 billion whole-company valuation split evenly between the two partners, rather than representing a discount or premium to the earlier reported figure. That is a consistency check on the reported numbers, not an independent valuation.

CNBC had also cautioned at the time that the talks were ongoing and might not result in a deal, and that neither company had immediately responded to requests for comment, underscoring that Wednesday’s announcement moved the situation from speculative to confirmed.

Market reaction and analyst backdrop

Royal Caribbean shares fell roughly 6% on the initial reports of the potential deal, which CNBC said were first reported by the Financial Times. CNBC also noted that the stock was down roughly 25% over the prior year after the company trimmed its revenue growth forecasts on softer demand for European sailings. The available reporting does not include post-confirmation sell-side commentary or updated price targets tied specifically to the finalized terms.

Strategic context: diversification beyond the ship

The Sandals investment extends a diversification push that already includes the Perfect Day and Royal Beach Club private destinations, as cruise operators seek a larger share of consumers’ overall travel spending, according to wmbdradio.com and CNBC. TradingView framed the joint venture as expanding Royal Caribbean into an adjacent vacation category within what it described as a roughly $2 trillion global vacation market, while also meeting demand for Sandals and Beaches properties by accelerating their expansion.

Bottom Line

Royal Caribbean has moved from reported talks to a confirmed $3 billion agreement for half of Sandals and Beaches, financed with committed Morgan Stanley debt rather than disclosed cash or equity. The joint venture keeps Sandals’ existing leadership in place under Adam Stewart while giving Royal Caribbean a seat at the top through a shared board with CEO Jason Liberty. Key financial mechanics, including the accounting treatment, the precise earnings contribution and any effect on leverage or capital returns, remain unspecified in the reporting reviewed, and the deal itself still awaits regulatory approval ahead of an expected early-2027 close.