Three Butlin's resorts have a new landlord following a £300million deal to purchase the popular holiday venues. The Minehead, Skegness and Bognor Regis sites have each had ground rent deals or arrangements agreed according to Somerset Live, which says that the new landlord is the Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK's largest pension scheme.
The pension scheme already boasts management of £3billion in assets - and now it has acquired the real estate of these Butlin's sites too. However, that does not mean that the entirety (or the wider holiday park business) of Butlin's has been snapped up. After being put up for sale by its current owners last year, it is still very much on the market - and is expected to fetch a figure as high as £700million amid a boom for holidays in the UK following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking to City AM, head of private markets at USS Investment Management Mike Powell said: "We are very pleased to conclude this acquisition. Butlin’s is a much-loved British institution and this acquisition represents a significant investment in its future whilst providing the long-term cashflows that USS needs to pay the pensions promised to our members."
The three Butlin's camps are currently owned by Bourne Leisure. Blackstone, an American private equity company, purchased Bourne Leisure in 2021 but is looking to offload the Butlin's part of the business.
Blackstone is reportedly looking to "reshape its Bourne leisure parks arm" as it assesses the future of the business. It is also reported that Bourne Leisure and Blackstone are said to have decided that Butlin's is "sub-scale and therefore non-core to its growth plans".
It has been reported the Butlin's chain will require "significant investment" to modernise its three camps heading forward. It is understood the signature "skyline" tents at all three resorts need to be replaced. Somerset Live reports that the current tents "have holes in the roofs" and often leak when it rains. To replace them would be costly and would cause massive disruption to business.
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