Massive change looms for Center Parcs as owner begins talks with new investors
A MASSIVE change looms for Center Parcs as the owner begins talks with new investors.
Brookfield Property Partners, who has owned the chain since 2015, recently opened up discussions with a number of its partners about selling it, say reports.
It’s understood a stake of the holiday giant could be sold after a £5billion offer at auction.
Talks however, are in the early stages and may not lead to a deal, reports Sky News.
An agreement is not definitely set to be met but it is claimed that Brookfield are evaluating their future with Center Parcs UK and Ireland.
A string of bidders wanting to get their hands on the sites – located up and down the country – include CVC Capital Partners, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and real estate specialist KSL Capital Partners.
However, potential suitors have already refused to meet the asking price of £5bn – making the future of the holiday sites uncertain.
It comes after the leisure resort firm previously abandoned proposals for a new 900-lodge site near Crawley in West Sussex.
The Crawley plans were scrapped in February after environmental surveys suggested the site was “not a suitable location” for a resort.
Center Parcs, founded in the Netherlands in 1968, currently has five UK sites and attracts millions of visitors each year.
They’re based at Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, Whinfell Forest, in Cumbria‘s Lake District, Longleat Forest, in Wiltshire, Elveden Forest, in Suffolk and Woburn Forest, in Bedfordshire.
There is also a Center Parcs resort near Ballymahon, in Ireland, which opened most recently in 2019.