RJD’s Verdant Leisure completes debt refinancing and secures park expansion

RJD Partners (“RJD”), one of the UK’s leading lower middle market private equity investors, has completed a debt refinancing of portfolio company Verdant Leisure (“Verdant”), an operator of boutique holiday parks in Scotland and Northern England. Yorkshire Bank has provided the new debt facilities, which have allowed RJD to receive an accelerated return on its original investment, and provide the company with headroom to continue investment in its parks.

In addition, Verdant’s second largest park, Riverside Leisure Park, has recently secured planning permission for a major new development at its site in Wooler, Northumberland. The permission, which was received with no objections, will see up to 110 new static caravans and luxury lodges available on a 3.9 hectare space adjacent to the main site. This will complement the park’s existing 440 pitches and will include a limited number of highly attractive river-front lodge pitches. Work on the first phase of development is expected to start in the autumn.

The expanded permission comes at an ideal time for Riverside, which has seen strong demand for holiday home ownership as well as from holidaymakers, and prior to the new development was expected to be fully occupied by the end of the current season.

RJD first invested in Verdant in September 2010, when it backed a highly experienced management team in a buy-in of Dunham Leisure Limited, the then owners of the Pease Bay and Thurston Manor holiday parks. Subsequently, in July 2011 RJD supported the acquisition of Viewfield Manor Leisure Park in Ayrshire, Scotland, followed by Riverside in December 2011.

Verdant Leisure and RJD Partners were advised by Shoosmiths (legal) and Hough Tullett (planning). Yorkshire Bank was advised by DWF (legal).