Center Parcs owner in talks with new investors over stake sale

The owner of Center Parcs' operations in Britain is in talks with some of its own investors about the sale of a stake in the holiday resorts chain amid a stuttering £5bn auction.

Sky News has learnt that Brookfield Property Partners, which has owned the business since 2015, has opened discussions with a number of the limited partners in its funds about a potential transaction.

The talks are understood to be at a preliminary stage, and may not lead to a deal, a City source said on Friday, while the identity of the Brookfield LPs was unclear.

The chance of an agreement being reached was also unclear.

However, the disclosure of the conversations underlines the fact that the giant Canadian real estate investor is evaluating serious alternatives to an outright sale of Center Parcs UK and Ireland.

Sky News revealed the names of a string of bidders for the company during the summer, including CVC Capital Partners, the real estate specialist KSL Capital Partners and the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Center Parcs' suitors have, however, refused to meet Brookfield's value expectations amid initial hopes that the company might fetch as much as £5bn.

One insider said Brookfield was being "creative" in its approach to a deal, with refinancing, recapitalisation and partial sale all under review.

It has also not given up on the idea of a full disposal of the business, which comprises six sites in the UK and Ireland.

Center Parcs has enjoyed buoyant trading since the lockdowns triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and boasts one of the British leisure industry's best-known brands.

Its resorts draw millions of visitors annually to its five UK sites and the latest addition to its portfolio, at Longford Forest in Ireland.

Its locations offer a mixture of adventure and leisure activities for families, such as watersports and horse riding, as well as spa packages.

The company opened its first site in the UK in 1987 at Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire.

Center Parcs has been a public company in the past, floating on London's junior AIM market in 2003 before moving to a main market listing two years later.

It was then taken over by Blackstone, the private equity firm, in 2006, before being sold to Brookfield in 2015 in a deal reported to have been worth £2.4bn.

Bank of America, Barclays and Eastdil Secured were appointed to manage the sale.

Center Parcs' UK and Ireland operations are owned separately to the European business that also trades under the brand.

The Center Parcs name dates back to 1968, when the first village opened in The Netherlands.

Run by Martin Dalby, its chief executive for more than 20 years, Center Parcs' shareholders have received hundreds of millions of pounds in dividends since Brookfield bought the business.

Brookfield declined to comment.