Historic holiday business could be put up for sale
One of the North West’s oldest holiday firms could be about to change hands in a multi-million pound deal.
The owners of Shearings, which specialises in coach holidays and is based in Wigan, are considering selling the firm according to reports.
The firm specialises in coach tours for older customers. According to reports its owners US based private equity firm Lone Star is looking at a potential deal.
According to city sources Lone Star has held talks with bankers including DC Advisory about selling Shearings either later this year or in 2020.
One report claims the company had hired management consultancy CIL to ‘review business strategy’.
The coach firm was set up in 1919 in Oldham by Herbert Shearing and is now Europe’s largest coach tour operator. The business also owns several hotel brands.
Lone Star bought Shearings in 2016 and installed Grant Hearn, the former boss of Travelodge, as its chairman.
Companies House documents show the group made a pre-tax profit of £1.9 million on £209.6 million in revenues in 2017.
Shearings Leisure Group, the holding company for Shearings Holidays, Coast & Country Hotels, National Holidays and other leading brands, last year chaanged its name to Specialist Leisure Group.
Chief executive Richard Calvert said the change was designed to “better reflect the breadth, depth and diversity of the group, and to be more relevant to the trade, investment community, as well as current and potential future partnerships”.
He said: “Shearings is one of our best-known, marquee brands. It’s 115 years old and leads the market in the UK for escorted touring.
“But having it also as our group name causes confusion. People don’t realise the breadth and depth our business has in terms of specialisation.”
The firm is 100% owned by private equity investor Lone Star Funds.
Mr Calvert said: “We have refreshed the Shearings Holidays brand, we’ve heavily invested in improving our hotels, we’ve moved to a new head office in Wigan, we’ve invested in a new reservations system called ‘Travelink’, we’re putting in a new market-leading CRM system called ‘Market Developer’, and we’ve signed a ground-breaking partnership with Hearst Magazines/Country Living to operate two branded Country Living Hotels.”
Specialist Leisure Group operates eight different brands, employs 2,600 people, and operates 45 hotels – 42 of which are fully-owned by the group.
Lone Star has declined to comment on the speculation.
