Palatine's Verdant bolts on Crosslaw Caravan Park

Kenny Wastell
13 February 2017

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Palatine Private Equity-backed Verdant Leisure has bolted on Scottish leisure park Crosslaw Caravan Park.

Following the deal, the business will be rebranded Coldingham Bay Leisure Park. It will also introduce a fleet of camping vehicles for hire.

The transaction marks the third bolt-on investment by Verdant since Palatine acquired the business from RJD Partners in April 2016 and brings its total number of holiday parks to seven. Under Palatine's tenure the business has acquired the Kingfisher and Heather View holiday parks in the Wear Valley.

As recently reported by unquote", the UK holiday park sector has attracted significant interest from private equity players over the past few years, with British holidaymakers responding to macroeconomic developments and geopolitical events.

Previous funding
RJD backed Verdant's MBI in September 2010, taking a 75% stake, according to unquote" data. The transaction saw RJD bring in the management team of Dunham Leisure – owners of the Pease Bay and Thurston Manor holiday parks on Scotland's east coast – as Verdant's new leadership, and merge the two companies.

During RJD's holding period, Verdant acquired Viewfield Manor Leisure Park in Ayrshire in July 2011 and Riverside in December 2011, located in Northumberland.

Palatine then acquired Verdant from RJD in a £40m SBO in April 2016 with capital drawn from Palatine's Fund III, which closed on its £220m hard-cap in June 2015. Yorkshire Bank provided a senior debt facility to support the transaction, while Tosca Debt Capital delivered a second-lien debt tranche.

Company
Founded in 1938 and based in Coldingham, Berwickshire, Crosslaw is a leisure park comprising 300 pitches within close proximity of facilities for activities including diving, sea kayaking, canoeing and woodland walking.

People
Palatine Private Equity – Ed Fazakerley (partner).
Verdant Leisure – Graham Hodgson (CEO).