‘Indian entrepreneur eyes Pontin’s’
AN Indian tycoon has been tipped to buy the Pontin’s holiday park chain out of administration.
Newspaper reports suggest Bhanu Choudhrie and his family investment vehicle C&C Alpha Group could buy the business with the Dubai royal family for around £15m.
But administrators at KPMG say any deal will take up to three months to complete.
Its banker, Santander, has come under fire from chairman Graham Parr who claims it withdrew its support. The bank has denied these claims, insisting it provided working capital for 12 months while Mr Parr sought to restructure or sell the business. Administrator Jane Moriarty said lower occupancy levels had left Pontin’s short of cash.
It is owned by Southport-based Ocean Parcs which Mr Parr set up to buy the business from Lancashire tycoon Trevor Hemmings for £46m in 2008.
Administrators at KPMG were appointed on Friday to Pontin’s which employs 850 staff across five sites at Brean Sands, Somerset; Camber Sands, Sussex; Pakefield, Suffolk; Prestatyn Sands, Wales and Southport, Merseyside. It is understood to have debts of around £40m but it is continuing to trade and no redundancies have been made.
Mr Parr first bought Pontin’s with Trevor Hemmings for £57.5m in 1987 before selling it two years later to Scottish & Newcastle. Mr Hemmings bought it back in 2000 before selling it on to Ocean Parcs in 2008.
Just last year Pontin’s said it planned to create 2,000 jobs by investing £50m revamping its estate.
