Date: 29/09/2000
By Peter Fish
Rank, the rapidly shrinking leisure conglomerate, has agreed to sell its holiday businesses for £700 million
($1.8 billion) to the privately owned caravan parks operator Bourne Leisure, in a deal which includes the famous
Butlins seaside camps.
The disposal is the latest stage in chief executive Mr Mike Smith's plan to focus Rank on gambling. There were
suggestions yesterday that the next business on the block could be Deluxe, the group's film and video duplication
business.
Bourne is also buying Rank's Haven caravan parks, Warner hotels and Oasis holiday village. A Bourne spokesman said:
"Putting these two groups together creates a massive holiday giant with great opportunities for growth."
Read this entire story in The Sydney Morning Herald.