Sunsuper acquires remaining holiday parks stake, PE exits
Sunsuper, the Australian superannuation fund, has acquired control of Discovery Holiday Parks, paving an exit for Next Capital, Allegro Funds and Macquarie Funds. The deal, which values the asset at A$240 million ($215 million), will see Sunsuper raise its stake from around 30% to 98%.
Discovery is one of Australia's largest owners of holiday parks and mining camps, with 31 properties under its ownership across all of Australia's states.
AVCJ Research shows Allegro Funds - then ABN AMBRO Capital Management - paid A$47.8 million for a 93% stake in Discovery Parks in 2004 when it was still known as Beston Parks Management. Next Capital invested an undisclosed sum in the firm in 2010.
According to a release, key management will remain as shareholders and will continue to be involved in the company. The deals excludes Discovery Parks Onslow - a caravan park in Western Australia - which will be retained by the existing shareholders under a management agreement with Discovery Parks.
The Discovery Parks portfolio comprises in excess of 6,200 accommodation sites with an additional 1,200 sites in various stages of planning approval. Since 2008 - when it rebranded - Discovery Parks has delivered compound EBITDA growth of 21.2% per annum, with total room nights increasing by around 54% during the same period.
According to Grant Wilckens, Discovery Parks co-founder and CEO, much of the company's growth has been down to efforts to upgrade park infrastructure following the investment of more than A$52 million as part of a nationwide upgrade program.
"The holiday park industry is a strong and resilient sector and demand has continued to increase, even when there has been a decline in other forms of tourism accommodation," said David Hartley, chief investment officer at Sunsuper. "We've been investing in Discovery Parks for many years and it has grown over time to deliver strong returns for members."
He added that Discovery Parks represented a long term investment for Sunsuper which had plans to continue growing the business with the view to increase the number of parks within the Discovery Parks Group.
Sunsuper is one of Australia's largest superannuation funds with more than one million members and A$26 billion in funds under management.
More on Australasia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.