Center Parcs: £4bn sale under threat as frontrunners pull out
The race to purchase British holiday resort chain Center Parcs has cooled off as a number of frontrunners to purchase the business have pulled out.
Center Parcs was put up for sale by its Canadian owner Brookfield in May with a price tag of somewhere around £4bn. The first round of bids were due at the end of June.
Now it is being reported that private investment firms CVC and Blackstone have abandoned their plans of purchasing the six site-strong chain, according to The Times.
Real estate investor Aermont is also believed to have pulled out of the race.
Other interested parties including private equity firm KSL Capital Partners and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, are reportedly still in contention.
The second round of bids is believed to be ongoing.
A source told The Times that was there was “no juice” to tempt buyers.
They added: “There’s not a lot to do to drive value and you can’t guarantee that you’re going to get a new site. I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled [the sale] – Brookfield doesn’t need to sell right now.”
Brookfield purchased the business from Blackstone in 2015 for around £2.4bn.