Britain’s most famous holiday park chain Butlin's has been sold again - back to the family who owned it less than two years ago.
The holiday park chain is now back in the hands of the Harris family, as part of a £300 million deal with the US private equity firm Blackstone.
The complicated saga of what was to become of Butlin’s - which run holiday resorts in Minehead and around the coast of Britain - looks set to be sorted out now, following a turbulent period in the brand’s history.
Read more: Three Butlin's resorts bought for £300m in deal with new landlords
For years, Butlin’s was owned by the Bourne Leisure Group, which was established in 1964 by three families - the Harris, Cook and Allen families. The Bourne Leisure Group also own and run Haven Holidays and the Warner Leisure Hotels, and employ more than 16,000 staff at 56 sites across the UK, welcoming 4.5 million guests each year.
In January 2021, the US giant private equity firm Blackstone bought the entire Bourne Leisure Group for £3 billion deal.
But now, the Harris family have set up a fresh company to buy back just the Butlin’s part of the Bourne Leisure Group, splitting it away from Haven and Warner holiday parks and hotels.
Bourne Leisure will continue to operate those two brands, under the umbrella of Blackstone.
To further complicate matters, back earlier this year, Blackstone began to offload the Butlin’s part of what it had bought more than a year earlier. It sold the land on which three parks - Minehead, Skegness and Bognor Regis - are based, to the UK’s biggest pension funds - the Universities Superannuation Scheme.
That deal was worth £300 million, and effectively means that those three Butlin’s camps have separate landlords to the company that actually runs the resort and the buildings.
That is now the Harris family, who said they were pleased to go it alone with Butlin’s with another £300 million - this time for all the actual resorts themselves, including the Minehead one. “We are delighted to reaffirm our love for Butlin’s and once again be the new owners of this great brand, said Paul Harris, on behalf of the Harris Family Trusts.
“We look forward to working alongside the Butlin’s leadership team as they strive to deliver their strategic plan for the business and help them accelerate their investment plans to give our Butlin’s guests an even better holiday experience,” he added.
The new ‘independent’ Butlin’s resorts were given farewell wishes by Lionel Assant, the European head of private equity at Blackstone.
“Staying true to our high-conviction investment approach, we believe we are well positioned to drive the continued success of both the Haven and Warner businesses,” he said. “Proceeds from the Butlin’s sale will enable us to continue delivering our ambitious investment programmes across both brands, supporting upgrades to the existing estates and adding new sites to the portfolio, to the benefit of millions of customers.
“Butlin’s is in a strong position to take advantage of the continued growth in the staycation market, and I have no doubt it will continue to flourish. We wish everyone there every success for the future,” he added.
