‘The Club Company is looking for a new owner’

The biggest golf club operator in the UK could be up for sale before the end of this year.

According to Sky News, The Club Company, which operates 17 golf clubs, having acquired two more this year, ‘has appointed DC Advisory to run an auction of The Club Company that could kick off as soon as this year’.

Private equity firm Epiris has owned The Club Company since 2018.

Informal conversations with prospective buyers are said to be already underway, although details of who is in running has not been released, nor a valuation for the business.

The Club Company’s 17 golf clubs include Nizels in Kent, Woodbury Park in Devon, Castle Royle in Berkshire and Chartham Park in West Sussex, each of which boasts a championship-standard golf course, as well as health and fitness facilities, bars, restaurants and accommodation.

It has more than 40,000 members, with the majority of its venues either owned outright by the company or on a long leasehold basis.

Since buying the company six years ago, Epris has added four new clubs to its portfolio – Cams Hall, High Legh Park, Chesfield Downs and, most recently, Greetham Valley, which it acquired in May this year.

A spokesman for Epiris declined to comment.