Vendor Phase I ESG and Environmental Due Diligence Roompot Group/PAI Partners

What was the project assignment?

Roompot is a leading European provider of holiday accommodations. In December 2019, European private equity firm PAI Partners, who had been the owner of Roompot since November 2016, asked TAUW to represent PAI Partners and Roompot in the context of a possible takeover. Within the framework of that divestiture process, TAUW carried out an extensive Phase I ESG and Environmental Due Diligence (EDD) assessment in the first half of 2020.

The primary assessment purposes were to:

• Get a proper general overview of the environmental status of Roompot
• Identify material environmental issues in connection with the company’s park operations
• Valuate business consequences related to such issues
  
  

On Corporate level, the assignment scope included the assessment of:

• ESG (environmental, social and governance) practices, including, but not limited to:
  • Biodiversity
  • Social practices
  • Societal impact
  • Green Key Certification
• Environmental Management practices, including, but not limited to:
  • Nitrogen deposition and related site development restrictions
  • Climate resilience
  • Soil and groundwater quality (including PFAS)
  • Water management
• Safety Management practices, including, but not limited to:
  • Occupational Safety and Health Management
  • Fire Safety Management
  • Legionella Management
    
    

On park level, the assignment scope included the assessment of the environmental status of all Roompot-owned holiday parks (32 in The Netherlands and 2 in Germany), including, but not limited to (per park):

• Zoning plan/planning permission matters
• Environmental permit coverage
• Environmental sensitivity
• Nitrogen deposition/nearby habitat directive areas
• Soil and groundwater quality
• Ambient emissions
  
  

The TAUW team went through the following assessment steps:

• Multiple meetings/sessions with Roompot Management at Roompot Corporate HQ
• Site visits to each of the 32 parks in the scope
• In-depth scrutiny and evaluation of the information/documentation provided by Roompot as well as of selected publicly available information
  
  

How was the cooperation with the client?

For many companies in Europe (local and multinational industries, private equity companies, real estate investors, etc.), TAUW is the preferred consultant and trusted advisor when it comes to conducting ESG and EDD assignments. Our clients appreciate our understanding of transaction contexts and related mechanisms, as well as our commitment, our responsiveness and our ability to translate assessment findings into realistic business consequences, the latter being pivotal when it comes to decision making.

The above-mentioned characteristics were displayed by Tauw in the context of the sale of Roompot by PAI Partners as well. This was also more or less confirmed in the following comment by Mr Coen van der Wel, CFO of Roompot:

_{“During the decision-making process of buying or selling assets, Due Diligence is of great importance. In those cases, it is great to be able to rely on a qualified ESG and Environmental Due Diligence consultant. TAUW’s extensive knowledge and expertise, combined with their ability to act quickly, was just what we were looking for. During the entire project, the working relationship between the TAUW team, Roompot and PAI Partners was very open, cooperative and based on trust.”}

Because the company's headquarters as well as many of Roompot's holiday parks are situated in the Dutch coastal Province of Zeeland, the Tauw team was given access to a 16-person holiday house at the Roompot holiday park de Banjaard in Kamperland. During a five week period, this house served as ‘Tauw office’ and base camp for the team. How cool is that!

What are the project results?

The assessment resulted in a report summarizing the environmental status of the company. The report was included in a virtual data room through which it was made available to prospective buyers.

In June 2020, it was announced that KKR would become the new owner of Roompot. This was only a few days after Tauw had answered the last ESG- and environment-related questions to the KKR-team.

The project was completed successfully and to the utmost satisfaction of the client.