BY Richard Summerfield
Private equity giant KKR has agreed to acquire Roompot Group, a provider of holiday parks in Western Europe and the number one holiday park operator in the Netherlands, from European private equity firm PAI Partners for $1.1bn.
PAI reportedly began looking for a buyer in October of last year. In March 2020, it planned to launch a formal sale process but that was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, a deal for the company has now been reached.
Since being acquired by PAI for $673m in 2016, Roompot has invested significantly in upgrading and expanding its accommodations and opening new parks, and developed a strong digital marketing and distribution platform. It has also increased real estate ownership and grown revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at double digit growth rates.
“As we change to new ownership we would like to thank PAI, who have been a hugely supportive partner to our team since 2016, and welcome KKR for the next phase,” said Jurgen van Cutsem, chief executive of Roompot Group. “Our focus, as always, will be providing a great service for our leisure customers and third-party providers. We continue to see growing demand from our guests and from our corporate partners due to the leading platform we have put in place, providing a solid foundation to scale the business, also on an international level.”
“Roompot is already a leading player in the region with a best-in-class management team and a strong recent track record,” said Daan Knottenbelt, partner and head of the Benelux region at KKR. “We see significant further growth potential based on a very strong development pipeline, continued expansion of Roompot’s owned assets and new corporate partnerships. KKR is investing in Roompot through our Core Investments strategy, which is our pool of capital for longer-term investments, and we look forward to working with Jurgen and his team over the coming years.”
Joerg Metzner, a director at KKR, added: “We have been looking for a platform to invest behind in the fragmented European holiday parks market for some time. Our support for Roompot and its management team fits perfectly with our broader investment theme in the leisure space.”
Operating across its 33 parks in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, Roompot has over 2100 employees catering for approximately 3 million guests per year. The company generates around €400m in annual sales.
News: KKR buys vacation parks firm Roompot in $1.1 billion deal