We analyse the deconfining phase transition in the SU(N) Georgi-Glashow model in 2+1 dimensions. We show that the phase transition is second order for any N, and the universality class is different from the ZN invariant Villain model. At large N the conformal theory describing the fixed point is a deformed SU(N)1 WZNW model which has N−1 massless fields. It is therefore likely that its self-dual infrared fixed point is described by the Fateev-Zamolodchikov theory of ZN parafermions.