Sarasota RV park part of $1.7B deal

SARASOTA — In acquiring Carefree Communities, Southfield, Mich.-based Sun Communities has taken ownership of Sarasota's Sun-N-Fun RV park.

Sun Communities acquired Carefree for $1.68 billion, a statement says. Carefree owns 103 housing and recreational vehicle communities nationwide, which are primarily concentrated in California and Florida. The deal is expected to close by July 9, the statement says.

“The acquisition of Carefree Communities further solidifies our position as a best-in-class manufactured housing and RV community owner and operator and enables us to drive shareholder value going forward,” says Gary Shiffman, Sun Communities chairman and CEO, in the statement.

In the deal, Sun Communities will assume approximately $1 billion of debt, issue $225 million in share of its common stock and pay the balance of the purchase price in cash, the statement says.