Formula 1 owner and Singapore fund weighs Center Parcs deal
Formula One owner CVC Capital partners and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have launched a joint bid of around £2.5bn for leisure group Center Parcs.
The pair are one of several parties circling the group after its private equity owner Blackstone said it was considering an ownership overhaul yesterday, including “private or public equity or debt capital markets”.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is also said to be interested in joining the bid with CVC and GIC, while Carlyle, the co-owner of RAC, is also said to be considering an offer. Center Parcs is run by Martin Dalby, who has been its chief executive since 2000. Blackstone took over the company in 2006.
All parties declined to comment.
Meanwhile, a clutch of private equity firms are thought to be limbering up for a stock market listing of gambling company Gala Coral later this year after appointing bankers to lay the groundwork for an autumn float.
Gala, which declined to comment, is owned by buyout firms including Apollo and Cerberus.
Its owners are understood to be working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on the proposals.