Palatine in £40m SBO of Verdant Leisure from RJD

Amedeo Goria
04 April 2016

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Palatine Private Equity has acquired UK holiday parks operator Verdant Leisure in a ТЃ40m SBO from RJD Partners.

The deal saw Palatine acquire a majority stake in the business and RJD Private Equity Fund II exit, six years after acquiring Verdant.

Verdant CEO Graham Hodgson, operations director Bev Dixon and CFO Andrew Wall will retain their current positions. The fresh capital will allow the company to expand through further bolt-on acquisitions.

Verdant is the second investment from Palatine's Fund III, which closed on its £220m hard-cap in June 2015.

As part of the transaction, Yorkshire Bank provided a senior debt facility, while Tosca Debt Capital delivered a second-lien debt tranche.

Previous investment
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 Limited – 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 Leisure acquired Viewfield Manor Leisure Park in Ayrshire in July 2011 and Riverside in December 2011, located in Northumberland.

Company
Verdant is an upmarket holiday parks operator based in Berwickshire and established in 1999.

People
Palatine – Ed Fazakerley, Beth Houghton (partners).
RJD – Richard Caston (managing partner).
Verdant Leisure – Graham Hodgson (CEO).

Adviser
Equity – Clearwater International (corporate finance); Gateley (legal).
Vendor – KPMG (financial due diligence); CIL (commercial due diligence).
Management – Osbourne Clarke (legal).