CENTER Parcs, which runs a holiday village at Longleat Forest near Warminster, has been put up for sale with a price tag of up to £5 billion.

Its owner, the Canadian private equity firm Brookfield, is looking to raise more than £4 billion from the sale, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Brookfield has appointed investment bankers to sound out potential buyers, including other private equity firms.

The company is understood to want to cash in on the growing demand for domestic short breaks and holidays sparked by the Covid pandemic.

Brookfield bought the business for about £2.4bn in 2015 and now operates six holiday villages in the UK and Ireland which attract more than two million visitors every year.

The holiday villages are known for their tropical-themed indoor pools, spas and outdoor activities for both adults and children.

Center Parcs Longleat Forest has had its share of misfortune with the death of a four-year old boy in the sub-tropical indoor pool in December 2022.

In May last year, gas engineer Kieran Michael Killeen-McGuirk, 54, from Hampshire, died when he bumped his head after falling off a hired bike on a wet path.

The tragedy happened while he and his family were holidaying at Center Parcs in Longleat Forest to celebrate his wife’s 50th birthday.

The first Center Parcs UK location opened at Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire in 1987.

The company now has holiday villages at Elveden Forest, Longleat Forest, Whinfell Forest and Woburn Forest.

In 2019, Center Parcs opened its first site in Ireland at Longford Forest close to Ballymahon in County Longford.

Last year, Center Parcs was forced to backtrack over a decision to ask guests to leave its sites on the day of the Queen's funeral.

The company said the decision was made "as a mark of respect" and to allow employees to "be part of this historic moment".

But the move prompted angry complaints from holidaymakers as it would have meant some guests would have had to leave part-way through their break and then return afterwards.

Earlier this year, Center Parcs scrapped plans to develop a new holiday village in West Sussex following objections from environmental campaigners.

It has acquired an option in July 2021 to develop the village on a privately-owned woodland at Oldhouse Warren near Crawley.

However, Center Parcs said a "rigorous" environmental survey had revealed that the site was not suitable for development.

Environmentalists had argued the site would destroy established woodland and damage the habitats of rare birds.