Iglu acquired for £100m by Flight Centre Travel Group

Online cruise and ski specialist Iglu has been sold to Australia-based Flight Centre Travel Group.

The deal includes the Iglu Cruise, Planet Cruise and Iglu Ski brands and was secured for an upfront payment of £100 million and up to £27 million in performance-based earnouts.

Iglu chief executive David Gooch will continue to lead the business from its Wimbledon and Portsmouth offices, with the agency forming part of Flight Centre’s global leisure division under its chief executive James Kavanagh.

Gooch said: “We are thrilled to become part of the Flight Centre Travel Group. This partnership opens up significant future growth opportunities, allowing us to scale our operations while maintaining the unique identity that has made us successful.

“By leveraging Iglu’s world-leading ecommerce platform alongside Flight Centre’s global experience, we are perfectly positioned to capture new market share.

“Most importantly, the strong cultural fit between our businesses gives me great confidence that we will continue to deliver exceptional value to our customers, suppliers and people.”

Flight Centre founder and chief exeutive Graham Turner, said: “This acquisition creates significant future opportunities in the global cruise market. Iglu brings a leading UK position, a strong brand, and a scalable technology platform that aligns with FCTG’s strategic objectives. The business also has a strong people network and a strong culture that aligns with our own.”

Outgoing Iglu founder and non-executive chairman Richard Downs added: “It’s been a remarkable journey of resilience, creativity and technical innovation, since I started Iglu in a small office in Baker Street with a dedicated team.

“I’m delighted to see Iglu, now the dominant European online retailer of cruise and ski holidays, become a hugely valued part of one of the largest travel companies in the world.”

The deal comes two years after The Sunday Times reported in November 2023 that Iglu investor LDC had hired investment bankers from Rothschild to line up a deal with a £100 million price tag.

Iglu, which was founded in 1998 by Downs, initially secured investment from mid-market private equity firm LDC in 2015, with previous investor Growth Capital Partners exiting the business after three years.

It recently celebrated a move into new premises in Wimbledon, southwest London.

Flight Centre Travel Group’s previous investments in the UK include the acquisition of luxury tour operator Scott Dunn in January 2023 in a deal valued at more than £120 million.

Its UK business now includes the Flight Centre, Scott Dunn and Cruise Club UK leisure brands, plus the Corporate Traveller and FCM corporate travel management businesses.

In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange, it said the deal would “accelerate growth in the highly attractive cruise sector” and said final procedural steps should allow the transaction to be concluded by the start of business on Thursday.

It said: “Cruise is a rapidly growing leisure sector, with sales at both FLT and Iglu increasing 15-20% year-on-year, driven by a resilient customer base and a supply chain that is investing heavily in new ships and partnerships.

“Iglu also has an attractive margin profile – 3.1% FY25 EBITDA margin versus 2.2% across FLT’s leisure division – and, on a pro-forma basis, is forecast to deliver £14.8m in adjusted EBITDA from roughly £450m in TTV during FY26.

“With Iglu onboard, FLT’s cruise-related TTV will almost double to surpass $2b (annualised) during FY26 – two years ahead of plan.”