THE IDENTITY of the company behind plans to buy out Denbighshire Leisure Ltd has been identified as a Merseyside-based private equity firm.
Councillors voted to sell the council-owned Denbighshire Leisure Ltd (DLL) behind closed doors late last month.
The decision came despite some concerns from members about the authority over a lack of information, the shareholdings for staff, the loss of control of leisure services and the privatisation of the company.
It led to Plaid Cymru member Cllr Gwyneth Ellis handing in her resignation to the cabinet and Conservative leader Cllr Brian Jones heavily criticising the deal.
Several other anonymous backbench councillors were also concerned about “a lack of transparency” over the sale, as well as the identity of the company involved in the buy-out not being made public.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has now established that River Capital, a subsidiary of the Merseyside Special investment fund (MSFI), is looking to complete the £1.5m purchase of the council asset.
MSFI’s website says it assists small and medium sized businesses “across the North West, predominately in the Liverpool City Region”.
River Capital’s website says: “River Capital, part of the MSIF group, is a Fund Management company which helps ambitious small and medium-sized businesses to accelerate their growth and achieve their full potential.
“Through our people, expertise, and skills we bring the energy, passion, and opportunity to businesses seeking to grow, prosper, and achieve their goals.”
The website adds: “We’re an ambitious team with a strong track record of value creation for our clients and stakeholders through deep-sector knowledge, absolute objectivity, and expert business advice.
“We believe in the extraordinary power of potential that lies within all and through our people, expertise, and skills, (and) we bring the energy, passion, and opportunity to businesses seeking to grow, prosper, and achieve their goals.”
DLL runs eight leisure centres, the SC2 Water Park in Rhyl, the 1891 Restaurant and Bar at Rhyl’s theatre, Rhyl Pavilion Theatre, Rhyl Town Hall, North Wales Bowls Centre, Nova in Prestatyn, and Ruthin Craft Centre and its Cafe R eatery, employing well over 500 members of staff.
A spokeswoman for DLL said: “We are not going to comment on hear-say.”
Denbighshire County Council also declined to comment.
A spokesman for River Capital said: “We do not comment on speculation regarding potential transactions.
“Confidentiality is essential in any transaction process, and we adhere to strict protocols regarding potential business activities.”
