A caravan park giant, with sites in Hunstanton, Heacham, Great Yarmouth, Kessingland and Clacton, is to be bought by a Canadian private equity firm.

Parkdean Resorts will be snapped up by Onex Corporation in a £1.35bn deal which is expected to go through early next year.

Parkdean Resorts owns and operates 73 caravan holiday parks across England, Scotland and

Wales, selling more than 500,000 holidays a year.

Parkdean Resorts employs more than 6,000 staff during the peak holiday season.

'This is an exciting opportunity for Parkdean Resorts,' said Parkdean Resorts' chief executive John Waterworth. 'We look forward to working with Onex to further enhance our parks and leisure facilities during our next phase of growth.'

Onex managing director Tony Morgan said: 'Parkdean Resorts has built the market-leading affordable holiday park business in the UK, with a strong base of loyal customers in an attractive segment of the domestic holiday market.

'We are excited to partner with John Waterworth and his team to continue to support the company's growth, both organically and through acquisition.'

The announcement comes as rival holiday park group Park Holidays has also been bought by a private equity firm in a £362m deal.