LGV sells The Club Company

LGV has sold golf and country club operator The Club Company to Boundary for £96m. LGV has made around a 2.25x return on its original investment.

LGV acquired the business for £57m in a public-to-private transaction when it took Clubhaus plc (former name for The Club Company) off the market in May 2004, backing the incumbent management team. When Clubhaus was listed on AIM it had a market cap of £2.5m. It had £40.5m of senior debt and £16m of high yield bonds. LGV offered £16.5m for the bonds and the equity and investors agreed to an offer of 0.2 pence per share versus a share price of 0.25 pence per share. Since then LGV has supported the business in the development of new health and fitness facilities at Chartham Park, The Warwickshire and Benton Hall.

The Club Company is a leading UK golf and country club operator. It operates 11 golf and country clubs, including The Warwickshire, Castle Royle, near Maidenhead and Nizels, near Sevenoaks. The clubs are predominantly freehold or long leasehold. The country club format offers members a full range of facilities including golf courses, gyms, swimming pools, spas, sauna, health & beauty, crèche and function rooms.

Bill Priestley, managing director of LGV said: “We are delighted with our investment in The Club Company. When we acquired the business, we were attracted by its high quality asset base, its differentiated product and the opportunity to undertake new developments at several of its sites. Working with a first class management team, we have successfully developed the business along these lines…”

LGV has undertaken three transactions with a total value of more than £540m in the last month, also acquiring South Lakeland Caravans and realising its investment in UK cinema business Vue Entertainment.