Holidaybreak sells Eurocamp for £90m
EUROCAMP, the Cheshire company, which runs campsites across Europe, has been sold to a French company for nearly £90m.
Northwic-based Eurocamp was previously owned by Cox & Kings, an Indian company which acquired its parent company Holidaybreak for £300m+ in 2011.
Now the business has been snapped up by the Homair Vacances Group, which also runs camping villages.
The enlarged group will manage approximately 15,000 mobile-homes located on around 300 campsites situated principally in France, Spain, Italy and Croatia.
Homair said the deal is subject to the approval of the competition regulators in the UK.
Peter Kerkar, chief executive of Holidaybreak said the sale, first mooted in autumn 2013, was a “logical and favourable step forward”.
“As previously stated, the mobile-home rental was not a strategic priority for our group. This sale will strengthen our balance sheet and the growth capability of our core businesses.”
Mr Kerkar told the Indian media: “The sale of camping business is consistent with our strategy of becoming a leisure and education travel group and allows us to focus on these businesses that have a global footprint and market leadership position.”
He added that the camping business required large cap-ex and was too seasonal for Cox & Kings.
Alain Calmé, chairman of Homair Vacances group, added: “This acquisition is a major development step of the Homair Vacances group, which is a growing provider of European outdoor holidays.
“Eurocamp is a strongly recognized market player, greatly appreciated by the customers, especially in the UK and Ireland. We will develop this brand by respecting its DNA, as we did for the Al Fresco brand we purchased three years ago.”
Steve Whitfield, managing director of Eurocamp said: “We are delighted that we have found a shareholder who understands our market and appreciates our potential for growth.”
Homair Vacances was advised by Easton Corporate Finance and Société Générale (M&A), PriceWaterhouseCoopers (Finance Due Diligence),BDO and Mayer Brown (tax due diligence), Taylor Wessing and DLA Piper (legal due diligence) and Cabinet Cohen (management).
