Management Due Diligence specialists, The Quinn Partnership has advised Inflexion Private Equity on their recent buyout of online travel agent, On The Beach.

The Manchester-based company has been sold by ISIS Equity Partners to Inflexion Private Equity for £73m. They carry more than 900,000 passengers each year and have grown rapidly on the back of significant investment in technology, content and marketing.

Online bookings account for around 45 per cent of all packaged beach holidays in the UK, and is expected to grow by ten per cent year in the next few years, according to a statement by Inflexion.

Inflexion will be backing the existing management team who will remain with the business, led by founder and chief executive, Simon Cooper.

Commenting on the deal, Simon Cooper said:

“This is fantastic news for our business and we are delighted that Inflexion is investing in the next stage of growth for On The Beach.

“With their proven track record of working with businesses to grow both domestically and internationally, as well as their experience in the online retail sector, we fell they are the right partner for our business and we look forward to working together.”

Simon Turner, Managing Partner at Inflexion, commented:

“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.”

Paul Quinn, Director at The Quinn Partnership, also commented:

“This is highly experienced and capable management team that benchmarks well at both Board and operational levels. The business is well led by Simon Cooper as it looks towards an exciting new era of growth and success and once again we are delighted to support Inflexion on another of their investments.”

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