Hook Em: Texas Billionaire Tom Hicks Still Long on Argentina

Legendary golfer Greg Norman walks the scenic ground at Tom Hicks' (inset) El Desafio Mountain Resort.

Texas and Argentina have some wonderful things in common: good people, great beef, authentic cowboys and wide open spaces just to name a few. Maybe that’s why Dallas billionaire Thomas Hicks set his sights on the Pampas and Patagonia in the 1980′s. His now legendary private equity firms completed billions in leveraged acquisitions in the years that followed, including several deals in Latin America.

Admittedly, the Dallas Morning-News points out, there have been highs and lows; yet, Hicks has proven his resilience over three decades of business cycles. He also has an eye for real estate. “He has land in Frisco and Cedar Park (near Austin),” writes the Morning-News, “plus substantial acreage in Argentina, where he is developing residential and resort projects and maybe even a winery someday.”

While some investors and global franchises may have given up on Argentina after the 2001/02 financial crisis, Hicks persevered and is currently unveiling one of the country’s true signature developments, El Desafi­o Mountain Resort. El Desafio will feature the first Greg Norman course in Argentina, a course which Norman himself describes as “absolutely stunning…amongst some of the most scenic terrain in the world.”

At age 64, Hicks isn’t slowing down, while sons Tommy and Mack are managing much of the day-to-day operations. Looking forward, Hicks describes his real estate holdings as “stable and not under stress.” In Texas as in Argentina, there are advantages to being in the Deep South.

For more information about investment opportunities in Argentina and Uruguay, download IncomeBA and the new issue of InvestBA Privada.