Blackstone and Bourne Leisure today announce that funds managed by Blackstone Capital Partners (“BCP”) and Blackstone Real Estate Partners (“BREP”) have agreed to acquire Bourne Leisure (“the Company”), a premier UK holiday company. The Harris, Cook and Allen founding families are co-investing alongside BCP and BREP and will together hold a significant minority stake in the business.
The Company is a leader in the UK domestic holiday market, employing over 16,000 team members, hosting 25,000 holiday-home owners, and attracting 4.5 million guests to 56 sites across the UK every year. It operates through its three brands, Haven, Butlin’s and Warner Leisure Hotels. Haven is the largest UK caravan operator with 38 holiday parks and 2.5 million visitors a year.
Blackstone has a proven investment track record in the wider hospitality, travel and leisure sectors, including its prior investment in Center Parcs and current ownership of Merlin, which has grown to become the second largest operator of visitor attractions and theme parks globally.
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.”
Paul Flaum, Group Chief Executive Officer of Bourne Leisure commented: “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.”
