Intercontinental to buy Marine Home Center
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
By the end of May, Peter Palandjian, CEO of the investment and real estate megacompany Intercontinental and a founder of the Nantucket Dreamland Foundation, hopes to have a closing date set for his firm's acquisition of Marine Home Center.

Palandjian confirmed on Monday that the due diligence period has begun on the property, but declined to discuss a potential purchase price. In a recent email to customers of Marine Home Center, owner Denis Gazaille stated that he has reached an agreement with the company, which would also operate the home supply business, and anticipated that details of the transaction will be finalized by May 20.

Gazaille, who will remain with Marine Home Center for several months as an advisor, said there were a number of factors that led him to want to sell the business, but that the primary reason is his age.

"At my age it's about time that I think about retirement and this seems like a good time," said Gazaille, who is 58. "I have no plans. Most of my family is here and my grandchildren. I have no reason to leave and no desire."

Palandjian, whose company portfolio contains a variety of property profiles, explained the motivation to buy Marine Home Center.

"It's a very attractive business. It has an incredibly loyal workforce and enjoys a good business position on the island, so we think it's a good investment," said Palandjian, adding that no changes are planned at this point. "It's a very well run and successful business and has a fairly talented senior management group. We want to continue to run it profitably and, over time, grow and improve it. I like the business, I like the people. We're very excited about it."

Intercontinental has offices in Boston, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. Though it operates as one company, it has subsidiaries including Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation and Intercontinental Developers, Inc. Founded in Boston in 1959 by Palandjian's father, Petros Palandjian, it has acquired, developed, managed and owned more than $4 billion in real estate of various types and currently holds 14 million square-feet of property across the country.

Intercontinental is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and manages private equity real estate investments, along with providing a number of real estate services for U.S. and international clients. The company has earned a reputation for dealing successfully with complex investment proposals. Palandjian, representing the second generation of his family heading the company, explained that in 2007 Intercontinental was ranked 47th of the state's top 50 corporate philanthropists by Boston Business Journal. The company's staff is relatively small, numbering 76, and when the amount of giving was divided by the number of employees the rank changed to third.

Businesses similar in size to Marine Home Center that Intercontinental has run include Water Country, a theme park in Portsmouth, N.H., and previously owned properties including Vermont's Sugarbush Resort, Vermont's Magic and Bromley Mountains and Nine Zero Hotel in Boston.

Palandjian and three other summer residents - Philippe Laffont, founder of Coatue Management; Jim Pallotta, a Boston hedge fund manager and part owner of the Boston Celtics; and Barry Sternlicht, president and CEO of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, established the Nantucket Dreamland Foundation last year to buy the old movie house and were joined by Wendy Schmidt, Kathy Penske and John Johnson. Selectman and former Community School director Patty Roggeveen was brought on as the NDF executive director. Palandjian said Intercontinental is developing and managing construction of the building at no cost as a charitable endeavor with a goal to restore the theater as an arts center for the community.

"We've been part of the community. We like it for a lot of reasons," Palandjian said of his company and family.

Palandjian married his wife Minou on Nantucket 19 years ago. They spent their honeymoon here and returned to vacation every summer. Eight years ago they bought an island home and continue to be frequent visitors with their children Manon, 16, Petros,

13, Margot, 12 and Madelon, 9. I