Blackstone President and COO Jonathan Gray and Center Parcs’ Villages Nature in Paris
Trust Blackstone Group to prove that even holidays can be used to make paper.
The investment giant has entered exclusive negotiations to sell a portfolio of European holiday parks for about 60 percent more than it paid in 2006, sources familiar with the talks told Bloomberg.
The buyer is German real estate company Aroundtown SA. Sources confirmed Aroundtown agreed in private negotiations to pay about 1 billion euros, or $1.1 billion, for the seven Center Parcs Europe properties, the outlet reported.
Eastdil Secured is serving as a deal adviser in the negotiations. Blackstone, Eastdil and Aroundtown representatives declined to comment.
Pierre & Vacances SA is the operator of the seven properties, which are all branded as Center Parcs Europe resorts. The portfolio spans Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands and were sold by Pierre & Vacances to Blackstone for approximately 630 million euros back in 2006. Pierre & Vacances still owns and operates other Center Parcs properties in continental Europe.
In recent years, several private equity investors have acquired European holiday parks with histories of family ownership, cut costs and added revenue-enhancing amenities with broader appeal.
Brookfield Asset Management paid 2.4 billion pounds ($3 billion) in 2015 for Center Parcs U.K., for example, and another private equity firm in Canada, Onex Corp., paid about 1.4 billion pounds for Pardean Resorts, a U.K. caravan park operator in 2016. [Bloomberg] – Mike Seemuth
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