FIRST Choice has taken full control of Holiday Hypermarkets by purchasing the stakes owned by United Norwest and West Midlands Co-ops, as exclusively revealed by Travel Weekly (December 13, 1999).
United Norwest and West Midlands each owned 37.5% of Holiday Hypermarkets and the operator paid a total of £37.6m, together with £9m of debt which will be cleared on completion, for the stakes. First Choice already owns the remaining 25%.
The combined stakes of United Norwest and West Midlands Co-op were held under the company Co-op Holiday Hypermarkets, which had assets of £32.5m and recorded a loss before tax and exceptional items of £685,183 in the year to September 25 1999. The deal depends on Co-op Holiday Hypermarkets changing from an industrial and provident society to a private company.
First Choice chief executive Peter Long said:”The Holiday Hypermarkets concept has proved very successful with the consumer. In the past year we opened 18 stores and by the end of March we will trade out of 24 stores throughout the country.”