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By Ian McConnell

Business Editor

THE new owner of Argyll Holidays has revealed it is close to completing acquisitions of a further two businesses in Scotland.

Mark Seaton, managing director of US-based Cove Communities’ UK operation, said these two holiday park businesses were within one-and-a-half hours’ drive of Hunters Quay, by Dunoon, where the company will have a base following its move into Scotland with the £100 million-plus acquisition of Argyll Holidays announced last week.

He highlighted Cove’s long-term approach, and plans to invest in Argyll Holidays and the other businesses it purchases, while revealing he is also looking at potential acquisitions “further up on the east coast” of Scotland.

Underlining the financial firepower of Cove, he said: “We have over £1 billion of backing. There is no limit to what we can spend provided it is the right type of acquisition.”

Commenting on the two further deals which are close to completion, Mr Seaton said: “There are a couple… that are near completion. In the next month, six weeks, they will be over the line.”

Sector veteran Mr Seaton, who highlighted how “excited” he was to have brought Argyll Holidays under Cove’s ownership, said: “It is something I have been after for a very, very long time. I have always had my eye on their parks and approached the Campbell family on many occasions when I was told, in their words, ‘jog on wee man’.

READ MORE: Argyll Holidays, built by Campbell family, sold to Cove Communities for more than £100m

“I think we are the right fit for them, rather than private equity.”

Noting a private equity player might go into a newly acquired business and “clear the decks” and “flip it after three, five, seven years”, he added: “That is not our model. We have a very different style…

“We love the industry.”

He noted Cove Communities was financed by PSP, the Canadian pension fund operation, in underlining the group’s ability to take a long-term approach.

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Cove Communities has holiday parks in West Sussex and Cornwall as well as in the US and Canada.

Mr Seaton said: “We are not targeting quick wins. We are after much more sustainable and long-term [returns]. We take a long-term view on things.

"We are not in, out, shake it all about. We invest in the property – make it better. If it takes 10 years to get a return, so be it.”

Argyll Holidays was established in 1967 with the development of its flagship park, Drimsynie Estate.

It was built up as the Campbell family diversified from sheep farming and has since grown to a group of eight holiday parks in and around the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs region.

The portfolio acquired by Cove comprises Drimsynie Estate Holiday Village at Lochgoilhead, Hunters Quay Holiday Village by Dunoon, Loch Lomond Holiday Park, Loch Awe Holiday Park at Bridge of Awe, Stratheck Holiday Park at Loch Eck by Dunoon, Loch Eck Country Lodges, Loch Eck Caravan Park, and St Catherine’s Caravan Park at Cairndow.

Brothers Keith, Allan and Roy Campbell took over from their father Douglas to be the main shareholders in Argyll Holidays.

Mr Seaton highlighted Cove’s liking for family-run businesses, and flagged the enthusiasm of Argyll Holidays’ staff who had been working under such ownership.

He noted Argyll Holidays has around 285 full-time and approximately 350 seasonal staff.

Mr Seaton, who has worked in the holiday parks sector for three decades and previously held roles at Bourne Leisure and Haven, highlighted Cove’s intention to develop outdoor activities such as cycling and horse-riding at Argyll Holidays’ parks.

He flagged potential to introduce elements of Cove’s successful “Go Wild” programme, such as “hedgerow hunts”, foraging, and learning how to build fires.

Cove’s UK operation was set up after Mr Seaton met with the business’s owners in the US, Dave Napp and Colleen Edwards, in 2016.

Mr Seaton said: “We met, and decided we would like to start something in the UK.”

Cove’s UK operation was established in 2018 and completed its first acquisition, of West Sussex-based Bunn Leisure, in 2019.

Mr Seaton highlighted Scotland’s popularity with holidaymakers from within the UK, flagging research showing it was second only to Devon and Cornwall in this regard.

Asked when he had first approached the Campbell family about Argyll Holidays, Mr Seaton replied: “Probably four or five years ago I started. It was roughly around May in 2021 that we approached them again and we started to talk again, and we managed to find a fit for both of us.”