Caravan park operator buys two complexes

VERDANT Leisure, the East Lothian-based caravan park operator, has continued its expansion drive by acquiring two complexes in County Durham and underlined its appetite for more deals.

The company bought the Kingfisher and Heather View holiday parks in the Wear Valley from Park Leisure Holiday Homes for an undisclosed sum.

The deal increases the size of Verdant’s portfolio to six parks, with three on either side of the Border.

Verdant’s chief executive Graham Hodgson said Kingfisher and Heather View are thriving parks set in great locations which would provide a good fit with the company’s other facilities.

“With our financial strength and excellent trading performance we are actively looking to make further acquisitions,” he said.

Verdant won backing from private equity investors who share Mr Hodgson’s belief that caravan park operators will benefit from the popularity of “staycations” in the UK and the trend for people to take more short breaks. In April Palatine Private Equity backed a secondary buyout of Verdant from RJD Partners, which helped Mr Hodgson start the business.

Ed Fazakerley, partner at Palatine, said: “We saw significant buy and build potential in the business when we decided to invest and these acquisitions are just the first in a series.”

Mr Hodgson and Verdant’s operations director Bev Dixon previously sold South Lakeland Caravan Parks for £125 million in 2007, 18 months after leading a £95 million management buyout of the business.

Verdant bought sites at Pease Bay and Thurston Manor in East Lothian in a multi-million-pound deal in 2010. It bought Viewfield Manor in Ayrshire in 2011 and the Riverside Leisure Park at Wooler in Northumberland in 2012.