Exponent acquires Leisure Pass from Primary Capital

Kenny Wastell
16 December 2016

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Exponent Private Equity has acquired Leisure Pass Group, a provider of multi-attraction tourist passes, from Primary Capital Partners.

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though a source close to the situation told unquote" the £150m deal valuation recently reported by the Telegraph is slightly above the agreed sum.

The deal represents a 7x return for Primary, which was invested in Leisure Pass via the £200m Primary III fund, which closed in 2006.

Under the vendor's tenure the business has expanded geographically, from operating in three European cities to operating in 19 across Europe and the US. According to a statement, the business has doubled its revenues and tripled its EBITDA under Primary's tenure.

The transaction comes almost two years after Exponent acquired UK-based sightseeing bus tour operator Big Bus Tours. There are currently no plans by the GP to merge the two companies, unquote" understands.

Exponent is currently investing from its £1bn third fund, which held a final close in April 2015.

Previous funding
Primary backed the £35m management buyout of Leisure Pass in May 2012, investing £17.5m of equity for a majority stake of around 75%.

Company
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in London, Leisure Pass is a provider of multi-attraction tourist passes. According to publicly available figures, the business generated a turnover of £63m in 2015, with EBITDA of £11m.

People
Primary Capital Partners – Rob Foreman (partner).
Leisure Pass Group – Darran Evans (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Harris Williams & Co (corporate finance); Cooley (legal); KPMG (financial due diligence, tax); LEK (commercial due diligence).