Advisors are on the verge of being appointed to weigh up the potential sale of Center Parcs UK, according to reports.

Citing several sources, Sky News, says Brookfield Property Partners is considering a sale or initial public offering (IPO) among the options for the holiday chain as part of a strategic business review.

Centre Parcs Whinfell Forest near Penrith – a major attraction and employer in Cumbria – is one of the six holiday villages the company operates in the UK and Ireland.

According to Sky News a sale or IPO is expected to be considered over the next few months, and any transaction unlikely to take place until next year.

Neither Brookfield Property Partners – a subsidiary of Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management – or the Center Parcs boards have any firm timescales in place, it adds.

Sources value Center Parcs at around £3 billion – up £600 million on the figure Brookfield Property Partners reportedly paid for the company in 2015.

Brookfield Asset Management is no stranger to Cumbria.

It is understood to have held unsuccessful talks with Toshiba over the acquisition of NuGen prior to the collapse of its Moorside nuclear power station development in West Cumbria last year.

Brookfield – who saved Westinghouse from bankruptcy in January 2018 after buying the engineering firm for $4.6bn – had emerged as a late potential saviour for the project, which was set to create thousands of jobs and generate around seven per cent of the UK’s electricity.

However, Toshiba decided to pull the plug on NuGen after failing to secure a buyer within its set timeframes.