The French infrastructure fund Infravia has completed the acquisition of Sandaya, one of the largest camping groups in Europe, for more than 400 million euros. This company, characterized by its five-star facilities, is a leader in the French market and in Spain it is present in Catalonia, on the Costa Brava.
Specifically, this infrastructure fund will take 50% into the hands of the British manager Apax Partners, which has been a shareholder of the company since 2016. Hand in hand with this fund, Sandaya has tripled its turnover and has grown by number of facilities – it bought 21 campsites between 2017 and 2021. Currently, it has around thirty centers in different European countries. In fact, thanks to Apax, it made the leap to Belgium and together with Infravia it will analyze the growth possibilities offered by other markets on the Old Continent, such as Italy or the Netherlands.
Despite the fact that the vacation and leisure business has been one of the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the camping sector has remained stable as it is considered safer than other types of establishments by its customers. However, the business of one and the other has varied greatly depending on the region and the mobility limitations imposed. For example, in the case of Spain, there are regions such as Catalonia, Madrid or the Basque Country whose campsites have had close to 100% occupancy compared to others such as Asturias, whose establishments have remained closed.
The interest of this investor profile, more accustomed to investing in regulated infrastructures, is striking. In Spain, Infravia is the owner of Molgas (one of the main distributors of industrial liquefied natural gas) and an investor in the Málaga Metro and participated in the bid to buy Euskaltel’s trunk network. Going for the leisure business, EQT was also launched before the coronavirus with Parques Reunidos, but it has been affected by the pandemic.
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