Livingstone Breaks the Ice with Iglu.com Sale
December 2009
The Consumer sector team at Livingstone Partners (‘Livingstone’) has successfully advised management on the refinancing of Iglu.com (‘Iglu’), the online travel retailer, by Matrix Private Equity Partners LLP. The deal provides an exit for the founding institutional investors, including Barclays Ventures and Geocapital Partners.
Iglu is the largest independent retailer of ski holidays and the fastest growing specialist cruise agent in the UK. The investment from the new owners will be used to fund Iglu’s growth, particularly in its cruise division. Iglu founder Richard Downs will remain as CEO and existing non-executive director Martyn Williams will become Chairman
Richard Downs said, “In what some commentators were saying was a slow market, Livingstone attracted a high number of very interested investors, were very proactive in creating and shaping the structure of the deal and successfully got all stakeholders over the line using their specialist market knowledge and transactional expertise. We were very impressed with their commitment and professionalism.”
James Lever, Partner at Livingstone, said, “The Matrix investment in Iglu will allow management to build upon the Company’s existing strong brand and market position in ski and cruise and to continue their impressive recent growth. Our strong sector expertise enabled us to find the most suitable investors to support Iglu’s position as a top UK leisure brand.”
Christopher Jones, Director at Livingstone, added, “The high level of private equity interest in supporting Iglu illustrates that there is strong interest from investors in backing the best businesses in the travel sector. With a supportive funder alongside, Iglu is now very well positioned to consolidate its position as one of the UK’s leading online travel retailers.”
For further information contact:
James Lever
T: +44 20 7484 4700
E: lever@livingstonepartners.co.uk
Christopher Jones
T: +44 20 7484 4700
E: jones@livingstonepartners.co.uk
