Chinese investor to buy elite Newport Beach clubs

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Chinese investor Winston Chung has agreed to buy the parent company of the Balboa Bay Club & Resort and the Newport Beach Country Club.

Chung’s Seven-One Capital-Business Inc. will purchase International Bay Clubs Inc. for an undisclosed sum and gain control of the elite Orange County clubs, both parties said Friday.

The Balboa Bay Club includes a 160-room public resort hotel, as well as a private club with a marina and 145 apartments set on 15 acres along Newport Beach Harbor.

The Newport Beach Country Club is a private golf country club near the Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach.

Chung said he would carry out existing plans to build a new clubhouse and make other improvements at the properties. The current management team will continue to operate both entities, he said.

Chung said he hopes to develop similar private waterfront membership clubs with marinas and apartments in China.

Chung said he is a battery scientist, inventor and entrepreneur with several businesses in Southern California. He made much of his fortune as the founder of Winston Battery in Shenzhen, China.

Among his investments in Southern California is MVP RV Inc., a Riverside company that builds trailers and recreational vehicles. Chung said in January that he plans to build and export $5 billion worth of them to China.

-- Roger Vincent