Blackstone to acquire Butlin's parent company

Funds managed by Blackstone have agreed to acquire Bourne Leisure, the parent company of Haven Holidays, Butlin's and Warner Leisure Hotels.

The Harris, Cook and Allen families, who founded Bourne Leisure, are co-investing alongside Blackstone Capital Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Partners and will together hold a significant minority stake in the business.

Bourne Leisure employs more than 16,000 team members, hosts 25,000 holiday home owners, and attracts 4.5 million guests to 56 sites across the UK every year. Its Haven brand is the largest UK caravan operator with 38 holiday parks and 2.5 million visitors a year, while Warner Leisure Hotels owns 14 country and coastal hotels and properties around the UK.

Blackstone has previously invested in similar leisure businesses including Center Parcs and owns theme park operator Merlin.

Lionel Assant, European head of private equity at Blackstone, said: "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.

"We look forward to working in partnership with Bourne Leisure's founding families, the management team led by Paul Flaum, as well as colleagues from Blackstone Real Estate, to further grow this great company. Our strong track record investing in the UK leisure sector will allow us to further enhance the company's unique, high quality assets across the country, and continue building on its success for guests, holiday-home owners and team members over the last 57 years."

Flaum, group chief executive of Bourne Leisure, added: "Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Bourne Leisure, for our guests, our holiday home-owners and our team members. We are delighted to be partnering with Blackstone who have 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..

"We are also delighted that our founding families will continue to be involved in the business through their significant family minority co-investment. We see compelling opportunities to grow Haven, Butlin's and Warner Leisure Hotels, as well as benefit from the increasing demand for UK domestic holidays."

Photo: Shutterstock