Epiris acquires The Club Company from Lone Star

Kenny Wastell
18 May 2018

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Epiris has acquired UK country club operator The Club Company from Lone Star Funds.

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though the Times reported that it values The Club Company at around £100m, while the company generated EBITDA of £9m in the year ending in September 2017, according to publicly available documents.

Unquote understands that the business has rolled over its existing banking facility provided by Santander as part of the deal, instead of arranging new banking.

During the vendor's three-year holding period, the business has undertaken an acquisitive growth strategy, bolting on Wharton Park Golf & Country Club in Worcestershire in December 2015, Woodbury Park in Devon in November 2016, and Witney Lakes Resort in Oxfordshire in May 2017. It has also invested heavily in the refurbishment of and extensions to gym facilities at its clubs, in addition to opening a new hotel at the Warwickshire Golf & Country Club.

The group will continue with a similar growth strategy of investing in facilities and exploring potential bolt-on acquisitions under Epiris's tenure. The GP has previous ties to The Club Company via Epiris chief investment partner Bill Priestley, who was working at LGV Capital at the time that it acquired the company in 2004.

The investment is the third deal completed by Epiris since it ceased to be the investment portfolio manager of Electra Private Equity in 2017. The GP launched Epiris Fund II in March 2017, according to Unquote Data, with a £1bn target, of which it had reportedly reached around half by May 2017. The vehicle invests £40-150m in companies with enterprise values of £75-500m.

As part of the transaction, Steve Burns – CEO of former Epiris portfolio company Hollywood Bowl – will take on the role of non-executive chairperson at The Club Company.

A spokesperson for Epiris declined to comment on the transaction, beyond the firm's official statement.

Previous funding
The Club Company first received backing from institutional fund managers in 2004, when LGV acquired it in £57m take-private deal. The GP sold the business in a £96m secondary buyout to Boundary Capital in 2006.

Lone Star then acquired The Club Company in 2015 in a transaction supported by debt from Broadhaven Credit Partners.

Company
Headquartered in Reading, Berkshire, The Club Company operates 13 country clubs with facilities including golf courses, gyms, tennis courts, swimming pools, hotels and restaurants. The business has 40,000 members and generated a turnover of £43.4m in the year ending in September 2017 with EBITDA of £9m, according to the aforementioned documents.

People
Epiris – Bill Priestley (chief investment partner); Ian Wood (investment partner); Arvind Tewari (investment manager); Daniel Frazer (investment associate).
The Club Company – Thierry Delsol (CEO); Paul Stephens (chief financial officer).

Advisers
Equity – Deloitte (corporate finance); Ropes & Gray (legal); PwC (financial due diligence).