Bidders circle as Pontin’s is placed into adminstration
THE administrators for Pontin’s plan to take a measured approach to the sale of any assets, believing the business is in a strong position to continue operating.
Jane Moriarty, joint administrator and restructuring partner at KPMG, which was appointed administrator to Pontin’s on Friday evening, said she was not looking for a fire sale. The holiday parks business was placed in administration after admitting it was struggling to cope with £40m worth of debts.
Pontin’s employs around 850 staff across five sites in Somerset, Sussex, Suffolk, Wales and Merseyside.
Moriarty said all five sites would continue to trade as normal and no redundancies of park staff have been made.
She said she had already received 12 emails from parties expressing interest in Pontin’s over the weekend but had “yet to review the quality of the interest expressed”.
Moriarty added she believed a sale could be achieved in two to three months but that she was in no hurry insisting if a sale was not achieved in that time the administrators would implement a holding strategy.
“We will be attempting to value the business both in its current state and where it can move to. One of the things we want to do is build a business plan showing where the business can be in the next three years,” she added.
Pontin’s bank Santander is providing working capital for 12 months while the business is restructured or sold.