ECI bags Amber Travel in £50m SBO

The business was bought from Primary Capital, which invested in Amber in a 2005 buyout for an undisclosed amount.

ECI first heard of the business back when it was originally up for sale, though decided not to invest at that time and has followed its progress since. The investor has made a number of investments in travel companies in recent years, with transactions including CarTrawler, Reed & Mackay and LateRooms.com.

The company still has potential for organic growth, according to ECI, and benefits from targeting older, well-off holidaymakers who prioritise travel in their household spending.

Previous funding
Primary Capital bought Yorkshire-based Amber in September 2005. The deal was supported by senior and mezzanine debt.

Debt
Lloyds Acquisition Finance continues to support the business with senior debt.

Company
Amber's business dates back to 1980 and today offers rail tour holidays with 300 different itineraries across 40 countries. It offers holidays through three different brands and caters primarily to relatively affluent and retired travellers.

The company saw turnover of £67m in the year to 30 September 2012 and anticipates revenue will grow by around 20% in 2013.

People
Chris Watt, head of ECI's consumer team, will join Amber's board. Nick Cust is executive chairman of Amber.

Advisers
Equity – Eversheds (Legal); BDO (Corporate finance); Ernst & Young (Financial due diligence, tax); Gallagher (Insurance due diligence); The Quinn Partnership (Management due diligence); PwC (Commercial due diligence, operations due diligence).
Management – Liberty CF (Corporate finance).
Vendor – Travers Smith (Legal); KPMG (Corporate finance); Deloitte (Financial due diligence).

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• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Exits
• ECI Partners
• Secondary buyout