Platinum acquires Wyndham Vacation Rentals for $1.3bn

As part of the deal, the newly-spun-out business has entered into a 20-year agreement for the rights to use the Wyndham Vacation Rentals brand name, for which it will pay the vendor a royalty fee of 1% of net income.

Platinum drew capital from its $6.5bn fourth buyout fund, Platinum Equity Capital Partners IV, to fund the transaction. The company will pursue an acquisitive growth strategy under the GP's tenure.

The deal took place via a competitive auction process, with Blackstone, Bain Capital, Centerbridge Partners, CVC Capital Partners and PAI Partners also involved in the bidding process, according to an earlier report by Unquote sister publication Debtwire.

The transaction represents Platinum's second European investment in six months, following the acquisition of Pattonair Group, a UK-based supplier of components for use in the aerospace and defence industries, from Exponent Private Equity in August 2017.

The sale by Wyndham Worldwide of its European holiday home rental business follows a review last year that concluded on the separation of the group's hotel business from its vacation ownership and timeshare exchange businesses.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.

Debt
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is acting as lead debt arranger on the transaction. According to Debtwire, during the auction, sell-side banks Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank were offering staple financing at 6x through a senior and second lien structure.

Company
Headquartered in Earby, Lancashire, Wyndham Vacation Rentals operates a number of holiday home rental platforms including Cottages.com, James Villa Holidays, Landal GreenParks, Novasol and Hoseasons. The business generates a turnover of $750m with EBITDA of $130m, according to a statement.

People
Platinum Equity - Louis Samson (partner).
Wyndham Worldwide Corporation - Stephen Holmes (chairperson, CEO).

Advisers
Equity - Latham & Watkins (legal); Alvarez & Marsal (operational due diligence, financial due diligence).
Vendor - Deutsche Bank (corporate finance); Goldman Sachs (corporate finance); Kirkland & Ellis International (legal); Dechert (legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• Platinum Equity
• Latham & Watkins
• Alvarez & Marsal
• Deutsche Bank
• Goldman Sachs
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Dechert