Caledonia Investments, a company with strong Tayside connections, has sold its controlling stake in a major English holiday park operator for £362 million – technically more than doubling its original investment.
The fee for Park Holidays UK, Britain’s third largest holiday park group, is its headline enterprise value – its entire economic worth.
Caledonia will receive £197m in cash, net of fees, for its 81.5% stake. The net proceeds will be held on deposit for future investment.
It acquired Park Holidays three years ago for a headline valuation of £172m, and supported its growth from 23 to 26 parks across the south of England from Devon to Suffolk.
Caledonia was acquired by the Cayzer family in 1951 as a holding company for their shipping interests.
The Cayzers were best known in Angus through the late Sir James Cayzer, the businessman and benefactor, of Kinpurnie Castle.
Caledonia came into its own as an investment company in 1987, and is still backed by some members the Cayzer family, who collectively own 48.5% of the share capital.
Park Holidays’ new owner is Tiger Bidco, a special purpose vehicle incorporated by Intermediate Capital Group.
The new owner aims to continue the success of Park Holidays through investment in existing parks and in new acquisitions.
Park Holidays caters for private owners of holiday lodges and caravans and offers rental and touring pitch accommodation.
Its commercial director Tony Clish, said: “Park Holidays UK has played a very significant role in raising the bar for the UK parks industry, both in terms of the quality standards and value provided to customers,” he stated.
“We will remain focussed on these vitally important elements as we make plans to invest in our existing operations, and to acquire new parks which are a fit to our business model.”
The chief finance officer of Park Holidays UK is Al Loch, a graduate of Dundee University who trained as a chartered accountant with Arthur Young (now Ernst and Young) in their practice at Dundee’s Overgate Centre.
Park Holidays’ business base has historically been in the south of England, but it does not rule out any other part of the UK for expansion in the future.
Will Wyatt, chief executive of Caledonia, stated: “Park Holidays has been an outstanding investment for Caledonia and we are delighted with the progress it has made since we became involved in 2013.”
Completion of the transaction is likely to take place early in the new year once official approval has been received from the Financial Conduct Authority.
