Tickets specialist Attraction World Group has been acquired by a newly-founded investment consortium including its existing executive team for an undisclosed sum.
The company said the funding for the acquisition by Montana World Investments was backed by the trade and speciality finance business of New York-based private equity firm Highmore Group, in addition to investors from the Netherlands and US.
AWG’s existing executive team will remain with the company as shareholders in Montana World and said the “landmark investment opportunity” would allow the company to embark on “an ambitious journey of globalisation and expansion into exciting sectors such as loyalty programmes, online travel agents, airlines, rail and transportation”.
Previous AWG shareholder Ten Oceans will exit the business as part of the deal, with Montana World registered at AWG’s Birmingham headquarters.
Olly Nicholls, Attraction World Group chief executive, said: “This new chapter for AWG is incredibly exciting for all involved, but most especially for AWG employees. Over the past two years, we’ve identified new opportunities within the travel industry and crafted a compelling proposition for our existing and new partners on a global scale.
“Our strategy has evolved from being UK-focused to truly global. With the backing of our new funder, we are actively working on bringing strategically aligned businesses into the group to enhance our strategic goals.
“I extend a heartfelt thank you to the entire AWG team for their recent hard work. Our culture and values have been the bedrock of our success thus far and will continue to guide us as we forge ahead.”
Justin Mahoney, group chief operating officer, added: “This investment is going to be game-changing for our retail partners. We already boast a best-in-market product portfolio which will be significantly enhanced in the months and years to come.
“Customers of our retail partners are now travelling because of the things to do and the experiences they live. Attraction World will deliver a breadth and depth of experiences that will be unrivalled so they can meet their customers’ needs and more.”
Scott Peters, director at Cattaneo Corporate Finance, which managed the transaction, said: “This is an exciting deal to have worked on. The combination of the vision of the AWG team and the innovative funding structure from Highmore and Montana World Investments will allow AWG to capitalise on a number of exciting market opportunities and we are delighted to have successfully concluded this transaction for them.”
Dipak Jogia, managing partner and co-founder of Highmore, added: “We are pleased to have supported Montana World Investments and Attraction World Group with this innovative funding package.
“We are highly constructive on the wider leisure sector and see this as the first step towards building AWG into a diversified group across the ever-evolving travel landscape with the proven management team and ownership group.”
AWG said Highmore is a full-service, SEC-registered asset manager with in excess of $2.5bn under management.