OTPP buys 40% stake in European Camping Group SBO

Francesca Veronesi
12 April 2018

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Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) has acquired a 40% stake in French mobile-homes holiday rental company European Camping Group (ECG), while previous backers Carlyle and Montefiore will retain the majority of the business.

Carlyle and Montefiore sold part of their stake to OTPP, while management has retained a minority stake of less than 5% in the company, a source close to the deal confirmed.

The deal was sourced via a bilateral agreement and is on a debt-free basis, Unquote understands.

ECG was originally named Homair until a rebrand in 2017. Since Carlyle's investment in ECG in 2014, the company has tripled in size, notably through acquisitions in the UK, the Netherlands and France. In 2016 alone the company acquired its British peer Roan, and Dutch businesses Go4Camp and European Camping Group. It also set up its direct reservations platform.

Previous funding
In January 2006, Montefiore acquired a majority stake in Homair, with BPI France and Unexo as co-investors.

Montefiore then listed the business in 2007, generating a 2x money multiple on its original investment, while Homair raised an extra €32.2m. The GP bought a further 18.44% of Homair via FCPR Montefiore Invesment II through holding company Illiade in 2009.

In May 2012, Naxicap bought a minority stake in the listed business, buying a 40.8% stake in Illiade, which owned 67% of Homair at the time. Montefiore retained a minority stake in Illiade, which it previously fully owned.

In June 2014, the bolt-on of Eurocamp enabled Carlyle to enter the group as controlling shareholder, alongside Montefiore and management. At that point, the company's market cap stood at €70m. Montefiore reinvested into the new structure as part of the transaction.

Company
ECG is a mobile-home holidays service, offering accommodation in campsites mainly in France, Italy, Spain and Croatia. The group was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence.

ECG owns and operates a rental fleet of 20,000 units located across 300 camp sites.

Its main brands are Eurocamp, Homair, Al Fresco, Roan and Go4Camp, and its distribution platforms Allcamps and Lux-camp. ECG generated consolidated revenues of €230m in 2017.

People
European Camping Group – Alain Calmé (CEO).
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plans – Jo Taylor (senior managing director).
Carlyle Europe Partners – Jonathan Zafrani (managing director).