Clubhaus, the golf and country club operator, has agreed the terms of a management buyout for just £16.4m.

Led by Clubhaus’s managing director, Charlie Parker, via his bid vehicle, Park Lane Holdings, the deal is backed by Legal & General Ventures.

Shareholders will only receive £1.5m, while bondholders will split £14.9m – a discount of 19 per cent on notes worth £18.4m.

Including consolidated net debt of £39.9m, and the value of the issued share capital, the deal values the Clubhaus business at £56.3m.

The board of Park Lane, consisting of Gavin Simonds, Paul Stephens, Thierry Delsol and Paul Sellars alongside Parker, has said it believes that if the offer is not successful, there is a ‘significant risk’ that Clubhaus will not generate sufficient cash to meet loan payments.

In this case, the banks and noteholders would be likely to demand full repayment and Clubhaus would be forced to implement institute insolvency proceedings – leaving shareholders with nothing.

The independent director of Clubhaus, Norman Riddell, has advised holders of ordinary shares to accept the offer.

“The restructuring in May 2002 resulted in a reduction in net debt of over £45m and allowed the group to avoid insolvency. However, the company’s balance sheet remained highly leveraged and this has continued to restrict our ability to develop the business and deliver value to shareholders,” he said.

“In September 2003 we announced we were considering a number of options including the sale of the company and in February 2004 we announced that, although any offer would be at a significant discount to the prevailing market price, a sale of the company might still be the best way to deliver some value to shareholders.”

Bill Priestley of Legal & General Ventures (LGV), said: “Under the new ownership of management and funds managed by LGV, the Clubhaus business will benefit from the provision of the significant future funding that the business needs to continue to develop its successful country club format.”

The deal is subject to shareholder approval.