On the Beach sold in £73m buyout

ONLINE travel agent On the Beach has been sold in a £73m secondary buyout.

The Cheadle-based business has been sold by ISIS Equity Partners to Manchester and London-based Inflexion, which has taken funding from Lloyds Bank.

On the Beach was valued at £40m when ISIS took a 51% stake in the company in November 2007.

It was founded in 2005 by entrepreneur Simon Cooper who is staying with the business along with his management team.

In the year to September 2012 the company saw revenues jump 70% from £138.8m to £230.9m. The group made a pre-tax profit of £1.5m, compared with a loss of £5.3m the previous year.

Simon Turner, managing partner at Inflexion, said: “On the Beach has grown rapidly over the last few years, taking market share from traditional, high street travel agents.

“The company has an exceptional management team which has developed a sophisticated and well-invested technology platform. Following our investment, we’ll support them to further grow the business in the UK, explore opportunities for international expansion and, with the help of our digital director, ensure the business is digitally optimised.”

Inflexion was advised by accountancy group PwC and law firm. Daniel Gallagher and Patrick Meades led for PwC while Pinsents’ team was led by Gregg Davison.

He said: “This deal highlights the appetite and potential for further growth in the travel sector, this being the third private equity transaction we have completed since the summer for online travel retailers.” 

A team from the law firm Addleshaw Goddard, led by Martin O’Shea, advised Lloyds.