KKR and Investindustrial put Port Aventura up for sale
The valuations of the amusement park are around 1,000 million euros and JP Morgan is emerging as an advisor
Investindustrial and KKR activate the sale of one of their most established investees. Venture capital funds are testing the market to divest the flagship amusement park in Spain, PortAventura, according to financial sources. The transaction will be around 1,000 million euros.
After a second record summer, the leisure and tourism sector can definitively sign its recovery after the unfortunate years of Covid-19. Venture capital funds are beginning to glimpse that, with the yoke of accounts already dissolved, a window of opportunity is opening for them to press the sales button on their investees. This is the case of PortAventura, a company that is perhaps the longest in the portfolio of private equities operating in Spain.
Investindustrial, the Bonomi family fund, entered the capital almost 15 years ago as a partner in Criteria, with whom it was divided 50:50. In 2012 it acquired the shares of the Catalan holding company, which had previously taken the theme park from Universal, and in 2013 it found a new partner, KKR, which acquired 49.9% for 200 million and allowed the Italian fund to collect abundant capital gains.
Under the leadership of these two funds, the first major Spanish theme park, inaugurated in the 90s, has experienced great growth. In addition to having increased the attractions of the main park and the adjacent water park, Investindustrial and KKR have opened another theme park, Ferrari Land, and have reinforced the hotel offer with new openings.
In 2021, the last year with the annual accounts deposited with the Commercial Registry, Paesa Entertainment (the holding company that brings together the entire business of the park) managed to return to profits, of 8.81 million, after the losses of 56 million registered after the pandemic. Of course, both profit and income, at 162 million, were still far from pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, he earned 241 million and earned 41.
The firm's forecasts are to finish the 2023 season with more attendees than in 2019, before the pandemic, when the park registered its current record. After having been on the brink in 2022, with 5.1 million visitors, this year it hopes to exceed the 5.2 million in 2019 with 5.3 million customers.
Refinancing
Both Investindustrial and KKR have been preparing the sale of Port Aventura for some time. In January of this year they refinanced a loan of 700 million with which they financed the purchase of the company.
The company had a loan for 620 million that matured next year. This debt replaced a bond issue for 420 million that the company launched in 2013. The company has signed a new loan with a group of banks led by JP Morgan and HSBC and in which the two shareholders also participate. This means extending the maturities until 2026 even at the cost of increasing its price. The interest goes from the three-month Euribor, which is 2.6%, plus 350 basis points to a differential of 500 basis points.
This move allowed funds more room to address divestment without the burden of debt in their shoes. The sale process is still in a preliminary phase and everything indicates that they will entrust the process to JP Morgan, which has already led the refinancing. The decision, however, has not been made and the sources consulted indicate that, with great certainty, it is one of the sales processes that are beginning to take shape for next year. Sources at KKR, Investindustrial and JP Morgan have declined to comment.
These funds leave one of the key pieces for the growth of the park in the hands of the future buyer. This is the construction of a new hotel complex on the surrounding land. The urban planning operation has remained blocked for years, but the pact between ERC and PSC to approve the latest budgets of the Generalitat, which has unblocked a similar Hard Rock project, and the latest electoral results in Catalonia raise optimism about its unblocking. This would boost the park's business and justify the sellers pocketing high capital gains for the company.
jokes aside, would hate to see what Merlin would do to it. Despite all the changes in ownership, it's managed to keep rides/theming/areas all to a high standard. Not keen on another Gardaland/Heide Park situation where it's obvious what's pre and post-Merlin/Tussauds
