Parkdean hitches up to Canadians in £1.3 billion deal

Expect extra helpings of maple syrup at breakfast in Britain’s biggest caravan-parks operator: Parkdean Resorts today moved into Canadian ownership after Toronto private-equity house Onex completed a £1.35 billion acquisition.

Onex has bought 73 camping and caravan holiday parks business from City-based buyout house Epiris — which also owns TGI Fridays restaurants and Hollywood Bowl bowling centres, and was formerly known as Electra — and Alchemy.

Electra Private Equity, managed by Epiris, pocketed £406 million from the sale while total proceeds were £516 million.

Demand has grown for UK-based staycations after the Brexit-fuelled slump in sterling made foreign trips pricier.

Onex set out plans to invest around $750 million (£610 million) to expand Parkdean, which sells more than 500,000 holidays a year in its campsites, chalets and apartments, when the deal was announced in December.

Epiris last year considered floating Parkdean on the London Stock Exchange, but shelved the plans amid market uncertainty when a range of listings were cancelled late last year.