Staycation bidding war: Blackstone-owned Bourne Leisure to sell off Butlin’s
British domestic holiday giant Butlin’s is reportedly set to be sold off next year, which could rally a bidding war amid the country’s staycation boom.
Blackstone-owned Bourne Leisure, Butlin’s parent company, has already chosen bankers to undertake the auction sometime in 2022, Sky News’ Mark Kleinman reported.
The value of the holiday chain is not yet clear, however, the pandemic-induced surge in domestic holidays suggests there will be heightened interest in the acquisition.
It comes less than a year after Bourne Leisure sold a majority stake to private equity heavyweight Blackstone for around £3bn.
Blackstone declined to comment.
The UK’s staycation industry has reaped the rewards of Covid-19 travel restrictions, with families injecting as much as £4.5bn into the staycation economy in October alone.
While the demand also encouraged holiday let firm Travel Chapter to cash in and plot a London float – which is expected to value the company at around £350m.
Travel Chapter said its customer database had swelled from 735,000 in May 2019 to 1.1m in August 2021.