Parkdean Resorts has hit the pause button on a £1.6bn sale amid concerns over the prospects for the UK economy.
The Newcastle based holiday park operator – which employs around 750 people at its Gosforth head office and runs 66 parks across the country – has confirmed that talks with potential new owners have come to an end, nine months after the sale process began.
Parkdean was first put up for sale in October, when it was rumoured that its Canadian owner Onex Corporation – which paid £1.35bn for the business back in 2016 – was looking to capitalise on the post-pandemic boom in UK staycations.
Read more : go here for more North East business news
A raft of companies were linked to the auction, which was being handled by Morgan Stanley, including Bourne Leisure, owner of the Haven holiday parks group, and US private equity firm Apollo Global Management, who were said to have put forward a £2bn bid in April before dropping out. International private equity firms PAI Partners and TPG were the last two businesses said to be in the bidding for the North East firm, having joined forces in a bid.
But all bids are now off the table after the current owners halted the auction, amid increasing anxiety over a looming UK recession and how that may change consumers’ future spending priorities.
The postponement of a sale follows a record performance for the holiday company in 2021, and record levels of investment pledged for this year. Advance bookings are at record levels across the business, which owns Church Point, in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Cresswell Towers at Druridge Bay and Sandy Bay in Ashington, Crimdon Dene, near Hartlepool, and Whitley Bay in the region.
It is creating more than 7,000 seasonal jobs as part of a bumper £140m investment plan, which will create new accommodation, new and upgraded activities and facilities and installing park-wide Wi-Fi.
A spokesperson for Parkdean Resorts said: “The staycation market remains very buoyant, the business is trading strongly and is well positioned for growth, having invested £110m into the business over the past six months, expanding the trading footprint, acquiring new land to develop, upgrading accommodation, and enhancing park facilities.
“Given the current broader macro economic uncertainty, the board has decided to pause the process and will revisit when the macro economic backdrop has improved.”
A number of deals have been completed recently within the leisure sector, including Communities’ acquisition of Park Holidays for nearly £1bn, while CVC Capital Partners snapped up rival Away Resorts and Butlin’s is now also on the market. Derbyshire-based holiday operator Forest Holidays has also been sold to Cheshire-based Sykes Holiday Cottages.
