Travel Seen has acquired a majority stake in luxury ski specialist Oxford Ski Company.
The social-first group is headed by industry expert Jen Atkinson and backed by Arete Capital Partners.
The deal follows a string of acquisitions in late 2023 and swoop for eShores in late 2024, taking collective total travel value to over £55 million.
Oxford Ski Company specialises in curating high-end ski experiences at both chalets and hotels in the world’s best ski resorts for ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the UK and worldwide.
CEO Mark Gibbins and Rupert Longsdon, founder and chairman, will remain at the helm and retain a meaningful equity stake.
“We have searched for experienced, high-growth travel businesses and our investment in Oxford represents our biggest and most transformational investment to date,” said Atkinson. “This next investment represents a step change in the scale and credibility of our growth and M&A mission.
“One of the most important factors when investing is the quality of the team and what Mark and Rupert have built over time is enviable. We are excited to welcome Oxford Ski Company into the Travel Seen family and look to continue making further investments as we grow, both organically and through further investment.”
Longsdon remarked: “I am super proud of the journey and growth of Oxford Ski Company to where it is today. This investment represents an exciting new chapter in the continued growth of the business.”
Travel Seen is looking to build the most authentic and engaged travel community in the UK. “The opportunity for building travel brands in the social space is huge,” said Atkinson.
“Other sectors such as fashion and beauty have been hugely disrupted by social media and we hope to lead the way, similarly, in the travel sector.”
Mike Fletcher, partner at Arete Capital, added: “This investment reflects our continued focus on partnering with high-quality, owner-managed businesses with strong growth potential and differentiated market positions.
“Oxford Ski Company brings a compelling combination of brand strength, specialist expertise and an established high-net-worth client base. The alignment between the teams creates a strong foundation for long-term value creation.”
Mike Fletcher, joint managing partner of Arete Capital, said: “Since our initial investment in Q3 2021, we have backed Jen’s vision to build a challenger brand in the travel industry. Over the last 12 months, the business has deployed an M&A strategy which plays to Jen’s strengths and mirrors the success story of her previous experience scaling ITC Travel to a £90m TTV group prior to exiting.”
Sam Davies, deal advisory partner at Cowgills, advised on the transaction. He said: “This transaction represents a highly complementary addition to the Travel Seen group and further momentum in its growth strategy.”
Travel Seen was advised by Cowgills for Corporate Finance (Sam Davies, Brett Marsden, Tom Roberts and Ben Day), Hill Dickinson for Legals (Matt Noon, Alexander Thow, with banking provided by Shawbrook Bank Tony Dean, Nathan Burn and Rhys Morgan). Private investors included Dez Derry of Family Investments.
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