Tour operator On The Go Tours has sold a majority stake to private equity investor Alcuin Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.
As part of the deal, founders Jay Lakshman and Scott Braidwood, who set up the company 20 years ago after meeting on a holiday in Egypt, remain as shareholders of the business.
Braidwood said: “Our team and partnerships have always been central to On The Go’s success and our new partnership with Alcuin is absolutely the right fit for On The Go.
“Both Jay and myself will remain on the board and look forward to helping steer On The Go onwards in this exciting new chapter in our journey.”
On The Go Tours managing director, Carl Cross, added: “After having grown the business significantly over the past three years, this new investment is the start of a new phase in the life On The Go Tours.
“It will allow us to take important steps to elevate the business to the next level. My senior leadership team and I are invested in the business and incredibly excited about our future path.
“Over the past few months we have worked closely with Alcuin and feel extremely fortunate to have found partners who not only share our vision for further growth, but our commitment to all distribution channels and quality of the customer experience that On The Go Tours is known for.”
“It will be business as usual for On The Go Tours. In fact, the new investment will allow us to further develop our product, grow our existing trade and retail partnerships, and invest in agency development, distribution tools, technology and our committed On The Go team members. We look forward to taking our partners on this very exciting journey of growth.”
Adrian Lurie, Partner at Alcuin said: “On The Go Tours’ successful growth is testament to its excellent team, product, partners and service.
“We are delighted to be joining Jay and Scott as fellow shareholders and we are excited to have the opportunity to work with Carl and his team to continue to expand the business in the coming years.”
The shareholders and management of On The Go Tours were advised by Alex Patey, Tom Urquhart, Harry Stoakes and team at BDO LLP.
Alcuin was advised by Taylor Wessing (legal), Armstrong (commercial), KPMG (financial), BDO (tax).
On The Go sells culturally immersive group escorted tours worldwide. Its Atol licenses it to carry 1,065 passengers a year.
Alcuin describes itself as specialising in “growth capital investments and supporting management buy-outs in lower-middle market companies based in the UK”.
Its typical investment range is between £2 and £15 million and currently has investments in 14 companies including Cafe Nero.
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