Queensborough sells bulk of assets to MBO team

Investee Company – Leisure Great Britain (UK)

Investee Company Business Type – Caravan park business

Type of Financing – Management buyout

Equity Providers – Royal Bank Private Equity

Equity Leader (Individual) – Richard Caston, Tim Faramand, Michelle Newman

Debt Providers – Barclays Acquisition Finance

Debt Type – N/A

Debt Leader (Individual) – N/A

Equity Amount – £17 million

Total Deal Value – £40 million

Other Advisors – For the purchaser: Macfarlanes(Legal) – Charles Meek, Ernst & Young (Accounting) – Mike Stone, AMR (Commercial) – Julian Spurling. For the management: Herbert Smith (Legal) – Tim Steadman, Banks: Dibb Lupton Alsop (Legal) – Alex Monk. For the vendor: Richard Saleh

Comments – Queensborough Holdings Ltd has sold its largest asset, Leisure Great Britain (LGB), a UK caravan park business, to its management and the private equity arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland. Debt to the value of £23 million was provided by Barclays Acquisition Finance.

This deal follows a series of sales by Queensborough after its public-to-private transaction in May 2000. Last year saw the sale of its French caravan parks and in mid 1999 Heritage Attractions Ltd acquired four day-visitor attractions from Queensborough Holdings. The attractions acquired included Needles Pleasure Park and Alum Bay Glass Factory, The Wax Works Museum and Bugle Inn, all based on the Isle of Wight.

The company that now owns the assets of Leisure Great Britain is to be called GB Holiday Parks Ltd. Philip Mason, formerly the managing director of Queensborough, is the managing director of the new company.

Mason said: ” The change in ownership gives us the oppurtunity to continue improvements we have achieved at the parks to date whilst at the same time allowing us to consider future acquisitions. We believe that further consolidation of the caravan sector is likely and we intend to be at the forefront of this. We are very excited at the prospects.”

What is left of Queensborough Holdings Ltd remains in the hands of David Kirch and Kevin Leech who lead the public-to-private transaction.