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INVESTMENT All in all it looks like a


good time to be invested or investing into the attractions sector


– and that there also remains interest from private equity investors. Given that the trade market is limited for someone wanting a good price it defi nitely helps if you have an asset which is attractive to the institutions. The two essential factors in attracting private equity are: • Management – there needs to be a strong ongoing management team; many owner-managed businesses fall at this hurdle as they haven't taken appropriate action to facilitate a succession. To do this properly you need to employ a team and allow them to run the business with limited interference for a couple of years prior to disposal. • Growth story – most institutions are fo- cussed on investing in growth companies. For


TABLE 2: MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS 2012/13


Date Jan 12 Feb 12 Mar 12 Apr 12 May 12 Jun 12 Aug 12 Nov 12 Feb 13


1


Target Fort Fun


Living and Leisure Noah’s Ark Slagharen Cobac Parc Terra Mitica Linnaeushof PortAventura Isla Magica


Country


Germany Australia USA


the Netherlands France Spain


the Netherlands Spain Spain


Acquirer


One World Group Merlin Parques Reunidos Parques Reunidos Looping (HiG) Aqualandia Aspro Ocio Investindustrial Looping (HiG)


Price 6.0


244.0 n/a


10.3 n/a


65.0 n/a


439.0 5.01


EBITDA


0.56 34.0 n/a n/a n/a


(-ve) n/a


59.0 (-ve)


Investment committed. EV unclear. Currency in Euros except for Australia (Aus$) and USA ($) 70 Attractions Handbook 2013–2014 Multiple


10.8x 7.2x n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 7.4x n/a


There are three trade buyers who may be interested in Europe: Parques Reunidos, Aspro and Looping


attractions this almost certainly means hav- ing more than one site and a clear plan either to develop or acquire more. While you can drive incremental growth from extending and


improving an existing operation, this rarely is enough to achieve the annual growth rates needed to meet private equity return targets. Beyond that it helps to have robust account- ing systems and management information as you will be subject to considerable diligence. The HiG acquisition of Looping and ongoing support for bolt-on purchases is a good example of this growth-led institutional investment. The investment by Investindustrial in PortAventura however, is more opportunistic in that the investor believes the asset is underpriced because of the state of the Spanish economy and that they will make their return by operating the business effi ciently and waiting for the cycle to recover. The PortAventura transaction also illustrates an important driver of M&A in Europe at present – the banks clearing their balance sheets of distressed debt positions


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