US investment giant Blackstone Group has agreed to acquire Bourne Leisure, the largest provider of holidays and holiday home ownership in the UK, for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition will be carried out by funds managed by Blackstone Capital Partners (BCP) and Blackstone Real Estate Partners (BREP).
The Harris, Cook and Allen founding families are co-investing alongside the said funds and will together hold a significant minority stake in the business.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Blackstone who has demonstrated a real understanding of our business and sector, and we look forward to working together to deliver on our exciting plans for the future,” said Paul Flaum, Group Chief Executive Officer of Bourne Leisure.
Borne Leisure is a leader in the UK domestic holiday market, employing over 16,000 team members, hosting 25,000 holiday-home owners, and attracting 4.5 million guests to 56 sites across the UK every year.
It operates through its three brands, Haven, Butlin’s, and Warner Leisure Hotels. Haven is the largest UK caravan operator with 38 holiday parks and 2.5 million visitors a year.
“We are long-term believers in the UK and are delighted to invest meaningful capital, despite recent uncertainty, to support the recovery of a COVID-impacted industry, and wider local economies,” said Lionel Assant, European Head of Private Equity at Blackstone.
Blackstone Group reported $618.6 billion in assets under management as of the quarter ending December 31, 2020, a 6% rise from three months earlier and up 8% from 2019.
The firm also had $32.3 billion of inflows in the quarter and $95 billion in the year ended December 31 despite a challenging pandemic year. It also invested $25.4 billion in the quarter and $61.7 billion in the year.
Blackstone’s private equity AUM was $197.5 billion as of December 31, up 5.5% from the previous quarter and up 8% from the quarter ending December 31, 2019. – BusinessNewsAsia.com