Germany: TwentyTwo Real Estate, an independent investor-operator with an estimated €4.8 billion of assets under management in Europe, has purchased Center Parcs Allgäu for an undisclosed sum.
As agreed within the transaction, TwentyTwo Real Estate Fund III and its affiliates are buying the holiday village and 750 of the site’s 1,000 cottages, as well as sports and leisures facilities, from Lagune International, an investment vehicle managed by Luxembourg-based private equity firm Batipart.
Situated in Swabia in southern Germany, Center Parcs Allgäu has been running since opening five years ago. The 184-hectare site features exclusive and wellness cottages, catering for between two and 12 people, a water playhouse, forests and meadows, a climbing course and zip wire, and wellness facilities including a nature spa.
Daniel Rigny, founder and CEO of TwentyTwo Real Estate, told IPE Real Assets: “This investment underlines our strong interest in leisure and destination hospitality, in particular in positive-impact tourism assets with a leading position in their local market.
“We are delighted to have acquired the major part of this property, which is Germany’s leading branded hotel by revenue. This acquisition is also the largest single-hotel transaction in Europe so far this year,” he added.
Louis Bayon, managing director of real estate at Batipart, told the same publication: “Lagune International has supported the Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs group, a long-term partner of the Batipart group, in its development in Germany since 2017, in particular with the construction of its landmark asset in Europe, Center Parcs Allgäu. Batipart wishes to crystallise its value creation today with this sale.”
Center Parcs UK and Center Parcs Europe are now run by separate companies while sharing the same brand.
Center Parcs Europe was founded in 1968 in the Netherlands, and is currently operated by Pierre & Vacances and owned by Blackstone Group. The entity operates 26 parks across Europe, including sites in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Center Parcs UK is currently up for sale by Canadian private equity firm Brookfield. The chain’s current UK sites include: Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire; Whinfell Forest in the Lake District; Longleat Forest in Wiltshire; Elveden Forest in Suffolk; and Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire [the most recent site to open in the UK in 2014], and it is also searching for a site in South East England where it could construct a sixth UK holiday village.
