Iglu.com
Specialist online travel agent
Contributing Sustainable Development Goals
Background
Our investment partnership started with Iglu in May 2012 after being impressed by their high calibre operational management team and proven entrepreneurial leadership. They are a specialist online travel agent originally focussed on the ski holiday market who then expanded into the cruise holiday marketplace in 2006. Founded in 1998 by Richard Downs they have become a dominant agent within the market.
They had become a market leading business that had successfully capitalised on the channel shift from offline to online, especially in the skiing market. By 2013 they were one of the largest online players within ski and cruise sectors.
In June 2015 we worked alongside management to facilitate a successful sale of the business to a financial buyer.
Accelerating Growth
Commercial
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M&A - Integrated Planet Cruise acquisition successfully
- We provided further follow-on funding and played a key role in executing the strategic bolt-on acquisition of Planet Cruise, making Iglu the largest online cruise agent in the UK
People & Organisation
Talent & Culture
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Recruitment Engine - Grew headcount in the call centre and built out the management infrastructure as the business scaled
Platform for Success
Finance and Operations
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Finance Function - We worked with the FD to implement a new framework for cash flow monitoring and reporting against the regulatory environment in which it operates
Delivering the Best Outcome
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High-Quality Delivery - We underwrote the entire transaction, providing the debt and equity on the deal
- Partnered with management to capitalise on the high growth opportunity in the cruise market both organically and through a strategic acquisition