Esprit and Total Ski get new backers
Enigma Holiday Group, the parent company of specialist tour operators Esprit Holidays and Total Ski, has new financial backers.
A restructure sees former backers, Barclays Ventures, replaced by ISIS Equity Partners.
The present management, headed by Peter Dyer, remains the same.
“As with any venture capital house, five years is about par for the course and Barclays were looking to make a return on their investment and move on,” said Enigma MD Andy Perrin.
“At the same time we were realising we’d outgrown them after rapid growth, so it was a completely mutual and amicable position.”
Enigma bought Esprit Holidays in 2001 and Total Ski in 2002, and has since grown from 5,000 passengers to 50,000 passengers carried in year ending April 2006.
Perrin said the company was now looking to expand its business beyond the winter season and ISIS had the funding to back it.
“We want to even out the peaks and troughs, but it’s got to be the right business – another specialist outfit with a good brand name and customer base and one that’s profitable, not a sick animal in need of rescue.”
Family skiing specialist Esprit Holidays operates Santa’s Lapland breaks and Alpine Sun family summer holidays, whilst Total Ski focuses on high quality chalets for the adult ski market.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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