Luxury tourism attraction Bluestone National Park Resort is to create 300 new jobs following a multi-million pound investment in a deal structured by Gambit Corporate Finance on behalf of the management team.
The latest deal with debt finance provided by Barclays, in what is a secondary management buyout, sees William (chief executive) and Pamela McNamara (operations director) becoming the company’s biggest shareholders.
The deal sees the majority shareholding in the Pembrokeshire-based attraction – which has seen visitor numbers increase from 95,000 three years ago to 130,000 – pass to management and staff, with workers given a 30% stake in the expanding business through an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT), believed to be unique in the resort sector.
The deal provides a significant exit for a group of investors that include chief executive of FTSE 100 Admiral Group, David Stevens, former finance director Andrew Probert and the wife of former chief executive Henry Engelhardt, Diane Engelhardt.
They will retain a minority stake of 25% in the business, having backed a £10m plus management buyout deal in 2013.
Gambit's senior partner Frank Holmes said: “Gambit is proud to have advised William and Bluestone’s management team for 16 years during which it led in arranging the initial construction funding, further development capital and a leveraged buyout from institutional investors.
"This bank backed secondary buyout aligns management and employee ownership in accordance with the private investors original intentions and will also fund further development of this internationally respected holiday park."
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