Canada’s biggest buyout firm is hoping that Brexit will fuel a staycation boom after splashing out £1.4bn on a leading caravan park operator.
Onex has acquired Parkdean Resorts from British rivals Electra and Alchemy Partners. Parkdean owns and operates 73 caravan holiday parks in England, Scotland and Wales and employs more than 6,000 staff during peak holiday season.
The fall in the value of sterling since the EU referendum in June has made the cost of foreign trips more expensive and led to increased demand for holidays in Britain. Over the August bank holiday 5.1m Britons booked a staycation, up from 4.7m last year, according to Visit England.
Parkdean was formed in September last year through the merger of the caravan operator Park Resorts and smaller rival Parkdean Holidays. The combined business had revenues of £401m last year and underlying profit of nearly £107m. Other bidders for Parkdean are understood to have included the private equity firms Advent International and Centerbridge Partners.