Corpfin Capital acquired last February 50% of Servicios Turísticos Marjal, the company of the Alicante-based holding that groups together the tourism division, made up of Marjal Guardamar Camping Resort, opened in the 1990s, and Marjal Costablanca Camping Resort. The latter was inaugurated in 2011, in Crevillente, after an investment of €20 million. Corpfin notes on its website that this is a buy & build operation, to buy and grow, with the aim of “supporting the founders—José Fur and Francisco Gómez—in accelerating the company’s organic and inorganic growth plans”.

Javier Fur Quesada, CEO of Grupo Marjal | Josemaria Alcazar | Diario Expansión

The CEO of The Marjal Group, Javier Fur Quesada—son of José Fur—confirmed the transaction without
specifying the amount because “more than the figure, it is about having a certain size in the sector, something that is important to undertake growth, innovate, compete and become more international”. The executive states that Marjal wants to give a “significant boost” to this business area, which currently accounts for 30% of the group’s sales, through the execution of “ambitious” projects.

Figures of the camping resort tourism sector

The company, pending the closing of its financial year, estimates that its revenue in 2017 will be around €60 million.

“We believe in this sector because the data supports it,” says Fur, and both “the number of tourists, business volume and the country’s safety are factors that allow growth.” Grupo Marjal’s campsites offer the concept of a “cruise on land”, which requires continuous investment in “entertainment, additional services, and a constant introduction of new features each year to provide a differentiated offering,” adds the executive.

The transaction coincides with the company’s restructuring strategy, initiated in 2014, to prepare the entire organisation for the future, a redefinition that has involved divesting some companies or incorporating younger and more technologically oriented teams. “Although the first and second generations have been working together for some time, the challenges in family businesses are very significant and there were things to drive forward and readapt,” notes Fur.

Grupo Marjal is a business holding founded in 1979 in Guardamar del Segura by Francisco Gómez, current president of the Alicante Family Business Association and former president of the employers’ association Coepa, and José Fur.

Diversification: from real estate to tourism and aquaculture

Originally, its activity was focused exclusively on the real estate business, but to avoid dependence on the property sector, it diversified into tourism in the 1990s and into aquaculture from 1999 onwards.

The company Culmar was the first in this food sector, and later Martorre, after being acquired in 2012, are the two companies that make up this business line, which currently accounts for ten percent of the group’s revenue.

“We are the only aquaculture companies with Valencian capital because almost all are large Greek, Canadian and French multinationals,” says the executive, who describes this business as “one with a future” due to the foreseeable shortage of traditional fish, while also “challenging”, due to the low margins it generates after deducting raw materials and the share taken by large retailers responsible for distribution.

Growth outlook

• Grupo Marjal estimates, pending the closing of the financial year, sales of €60 million in 2017.
• With this transaction, they aim to gain scale in the tourism sector in order to grow and compete.
• The Alicante-based holding began a restructuring process in 2014 to prepare for the future.

Want to know more?

Corpfin Capital y Marjal – Expansion.com
El fondo Corpfin Capital compra Marjal – Diarioinformacion.com