Blackstone Plots £700M Butlin's Sale But Wants To Buy Another Staycation Giant
Blackstone’s real estate and private equity businesses are plotting a bid of more than £1.4B for holiday parks owner Parkdean Resorts at the same time as selling the famous Butlin's resort business for as much as £700M.
The Times reported that Blackstone is a bidder for Parkdean, which has been put up for sale by Canadian private equity firm Onex. The firm is hoping to net more than the £1.35B it paid for Parkdean in 2016.
Parkdean’s 66 parks across the UK are made up of caravans and chalets, just like the 37 owned by Haven, which Blackstone already owns. The purchase would create a UK holiday parks giant.
With international travel having been curtailed for much of the past two years, staycation businesses have proved more resilient than holiday destinations reliant on international travellers.
In February 2021, Blackstone bought Bourne Leisure for £3B, using a £1.8B debt facility provided by Starwood Capital. Bourne comprises Haven, Warner Leisure Hotels and the Butlin's resort business.
It is currently looking to sell Butlin's for as much as £700M. Butlin's has three parks in Minehead, Bognor Regis and Skegness, and made a profit of about £65M last year.
Elsewhere in the UK holiday parks sector, Brookfield is expected to revive the £3B-plus sale of Centre Paris at some point in 2022.
