Parkdean Resorts sold to Canadian firm Onex for £1.35 billion

One of the UK’s largest holiday park operators – Parkdean Resorts – has been sold in a deal worth around £1.35 billion.

Canadian private equity firm Onex Corporation has gambled that the falling value of the pound post Brexit will see more Britons holiday at home – further boosting so-called staycation numbers – making holiday parks even more profitable.

The deal is expected to be officially completed early next year.

Parkdean Resorts was created in September 2015 following the merger of Parkdean Holidays and Park Resorts, which then had an estimated value of £960 million. So, this week’s announcement has seen the former stakeholders Elpris and Alchemy turn a tidy £405million profit on their investment in 15 months.

“We are proud of our investment in Parkdean Resorts and in many ways it represents what differentiates Epiris from the crowd,” Alex Fortescue, managing partner at Epiris said.

“Through a series of bank-related acquisitions and 11 individual transactions we have transformed our original Park Resorts debt position into joint control of a very high-quality, market-leading business with profits of more than £100m.”

Tom Boszko, a partner at Alchemy, added: “Parkdean Resorts is a unique asset with an exceptional management team, who we have supported in transforming the business into the UK’s leading holiday park operator.

“It has been an absolute pleasure working alongside the team and our investment partners and we look forward to watching the continued success of the business.”

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