Tourism Holdings and ATL announce $45m Jucy deal

Tourism Holdings’ shares have been placed in a trading halt after agreeing with Apollo Tourism & Leisure (ATL) to sell some of ATL’s assets to budget campervan company Jucy Rentals for $45 million.

The New Zealand stock exchange-listed (NZX) tourism operator told the market first thing on Friday morning that it had entered into an agreement with Apollo to sell “certain ATL assets” to Jucy for the multi-million-dollar price tag.

Tourism Holdings (THL) said the $45m sale to Jucy remains subject to confirmation from the Commerce Commission (ComCom) and the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC).

The competition watchdogs will decide if the deal is “satisfactory” as part of their respective reviews of THL’s proposed merger with ATL, with clearance being provided on that basis. 

The assets in the $45m deal include 110 four- to six-berth motorhomes from ATL’s rental fleet in NZ and 200 four- to six-berth motorhomes from ATL’s rental fleet in Australia.

This includes a proportion of the forward bookings associated with that fleet, THL said.

Alongside the more than 300 motorhomes, ATL’s Star RV motorhome brand and the property leases for surplus ATL rental depots in Auckland, Perth, Alice Springs, Darwin and Hobart are also included in the deal.

THL said it expected that the sale of assets to Jucy would be completed “immediately prior” to the completion of the proposed merger with ATL.

THL told the market on Thursday that it had tweaked the terms of its merger with ATL, which would see Apollo shareholders own slightly more of THL in the proposed merger. 

ComCom is expected to announce a decision on Friday while the ACCC will only announce its next week Thursday (Sept 29). 

THL also needs approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board, ATL shareholders and the supreme court of Queensland.

THL's trading halt will remain in place until it receives the NZCC’s decision – which it expects today – on the proposed merger with ATL. 

If THL doesn’t hear back on Friday (today), the trading halt will end when the market opens on Sep 27 next week.

Yesterday (Thursday), Tourism Holdings was down 1.9% to $2.65 on the NZX.