CVC to cash in on staycation boom with Away Resorts takeover | Business News

One of the world’s biggest private equity investors is in talks about a takeover of holiday park operator Away Resorts as it tries to exploit the booming ‘staycations’ market.

Sky News has learnt that CVC Capital Partners, the former owner of Formula One motor racing, has moved to pre-empt an auction of Away Resorts by lodging an offer said to be worth several hundred million pounds.

The talks are at an advanced stage, but could still fall apart, banking sources said on Monday.

They added that the valuation of Away Resorts was significantly smaller than deals typically pursued by CVC, suggesting that the buyout firm was likely to be interested in a ‘buy-and-build’ approach to consolidating Britain’s holiday parks sector.

Away Resorts owns well-known holiday parks such as Whitecliff Bay on the Isle of Wight and Sandy Balls in the New Forest.

It recently bought a site in St Ives, Cornwall, to add to its portfolio.

In total, its parks host roughly 200,000 holidaymakers in a ‘normal’ year, with demand having surged for bookings this summer as lockdown measures are eased.

A number of other players in the industry, including Verdant Leisure, are also up for sale as operators anticipate a prolonged surge in demand for staycations.

Quarantining requirements and other obstacles to taking foreign holidays are expected to mean a substantial increase in the number of British holidaymakers shunning foreign trips in the short term, according to many analysts.

Away Resorts is owned by Freshstream, a private equity firm which took control of the business in 2019.

The company is chaired by Rooney Anand, the former Greene King chief executive, and is run by chief executive Carl Castledine.

Sky News reported last month that Freshstream, which acquired the business from LDC, had appointed Rothschild to oversee a sale process.

CVC and Freshstream declined to comment.