Pizza Express entrepreneur snaps up cruise company
A private equity firm chaired by Pizza Express entrepreneur Luke Johnson has taken a majority stake in Cruise.co for an undisclosed sum.
Cruise.co, which owns the UK’s largest online cruise holiday websites cruise.co.uk and cruises.co.uk, handles 65,000 cruise passengers a year and generated an income of £64 million last year.
Risk Capital Partners, which has never before invested in the travel market, said it would provide additional capital to support Cruise.co’s growth ambitions both in the UK and internationally, particularly the Irish and Australian markets where it has identified an appetite for cruising.
www.cruise.co.uk is the largest site in the UK for cruise reviews and cruise related questions and answers and consolidates comparison tables of onboard facilities.
The site also has direct access to every cruise line’s live inventory and pricing, providing users with real-time live availability. In addition, Cruise.co hosts the largest cruise forum community with 85,000 members.
Johnson said: "Cruise.co has a wealth of content in addition to market leading prices. There is a great opportunity to replicate this model into international markets where cruising and online research are growing rapidly."
In addition to backing the management team of Seamus Conlon and Andrew Gardner, who together own the rest of the equity, Risk Capital Partners will use its record of investing in the leisure sector to further strengthen Cruise.co’s online expertise, it said.
Managing director Seamus Conlon added: "We have spent some time getting to know Risk Capital Partners and are excited they have decided to invest in our business.
"Their acumen and results in the leisure space will be of huge value to us and we look forward to their expertise helping to shape the future of the business.
"We are well placed to take advantage of these shifts, and help customers and staff get together to share their experiences."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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