LDC picks up GCP's Iglu

Alice Murray
12 June 2015

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LDC has acquired online travel agent Iglu from Growth Capital Partners (GCP) in a deal believed to be worth ТЃ60m.

The deal saw Iglu's management team retain a majority shareholding in the company, with LDC taking a significant minority stake. The transaction marks the fourth private equity deal for the company.

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking and RBS provided debt funding for the transaction.

According to LDC, the UK cruise market is expected to grow strongly in the short term due to increased capacity offered by several major new cruise ships.

Following the deal, LDC will support Iglu in expanding into new geographies and product areas including bespoke holidays, luxury cruises and long-haul vacations.

Previous investment
CGP acquired Iglu in May 2012 in a tertiary buyout worth £19m from previous owner Mobeus Equity Partners. Mobeus had purchased Iglu in 2009 as part of a £4.3m secondary management buyout. Iglu was first backed by Barclays Ventures and Geocapital Partners, which initially invested $4m in the company in August 1999, according to unquote" data.

In June 2013, GCP supported Iglu's acquisition of Planet Cruise. In the past three years, the business has increased sales from £87m to £174m.

Company
Online travel agent Iglu specialises in cruise and ski holidays. The company trades via three websites: Igluski.com; Iglucruise.com; and plantelcruise.co.uk. It employs 240 people across its head office and call centre in Wimbledon and a second site in Portsmouth.

People
Richard Downs is the founder and CEO of Iglu. As part of the deal, Greg Wills, founder of Rentalcars.com, has joined the company's board as non-executive director. The deal team from LDC included investment director Paul Landsman alongside David Andrews and Alex Wilby. Landsman has joined Iglu's board, along with LDC CEO Chris Hurley.

Advisers
Equity – Livingstone, James Lever, Gavin Orde, Jamie Hutton (Corporate finance); Livingstone, Bill Troup, Neil Smith (Debt advisory); Alvarez & Marsal, Adrian Balcombe, Colin Gater, Ian Fleming, Ben Mitton, Malvinder Singh, Frank Rejwan (Financial due diligence, IT due diligence); CMS Cameron McKenna, James Grimwood, Matthew Stephen, Peter Crichton, Tom Hughes (Legal).
Vendor – Deloitte (Corporate finance); Osborne Clarke (Legal).