Good morning, Nina Lindholm here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom. I’m covering for Craig McGlashan as he enjoys a couple of days off.
With the peak summer holiday season coming to an end, we take a look at recent travel, tourism and leisure dealmaking. Altor, BGF, Nazca Capital and TDR Capital are among the firms transacting in the sector. We also have insights from Houlihan Lokey’s latest travel and hospitality market update.
New destinations
The upcoming long weekend ends the summer holiday season for many in the UK, while in several European countries the new school year has already kicked off. It’s a good time to look back at some of the recent dealmaking in the sectors of travel, tourism and leisure.
In late July, Nazca Capital, through its Nazca Opportunities strategy, completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Madrid Artes Digitales (MAD), a creator, producer, licensor and operator of immersive cultural experiences.
Stardust International and Inmersivas Digitales will remain significant minority shareholders, MAD’s existing management team will continue to lead the business and Layers of Reality will continue to collaborate with MAD as an international licensing partner.
Founded in 2021, MAD creates, produces and distributes experiences that combine 360-degree projection mapping, virtual reality, location-based virtual reality, augmented reality, holographic content, scenic installations and interactive digital technologies. Its proprietary productions – Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition, The Last Days of Pompeii, The Legend of the Titanic and Cleopatra: The Immersive Exhibition – have sold more than five million tickets worldwide.
For more on why the Spanish mid-market is drawing in private equity, check out this feature exploring dealmaking trends in the country.
Elsewhere, BGF in June completed an investment in Wild Frontiers, a travel company specializing in premium small group and tailor-made tours.
Founded in 2002 by travel writer and explorer Jonny Bealby, Wild Frontiers operates more than 375 tours annually across 60 destinations worldwide.
Against a backdrop of growing demand for experiential travel, small group tours and premium travel experiences, the company is targeting a near tripling of annual passenger numbers over the next four years, according to a press statement.
Funding from BGF will support the next phase of growth for Wild Frontiers, including further investment in technology and data, customer experience capabilities and further international expansion.
Also in June, Altor, together with co-owners Strawberry Equities and TDR Capital, agreed to sell Nordic Leisure Travel Group (NLTG) to Norwegian Air Shuttle.
The total initial consideration is approximately SKr7.94 billion ($846 million; €729 million).
NLTG operates a portfolio of 26 concept hotels in sun destinations including Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Thailand and Türkiye, alongside tour operator brands Ving, Spies, Tjäreborg and Globetrotter, and subsidiary airline Sunclass Airlines.
The three private equity owners acquired NLTG following the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook Group in 2019.
The transaction is expected to increase Norwegian’s annual group operating revenue by close to 50 percent, with the combined group to serve approximately 30 million customers annually. For the 12 months to March 31, 2026, NLTG delivered SKr17 billion in revenues.
Why is private equity keen on travel and hospitality? AI-led digital transformation is one of the reasons, according to Houlihan Lokey’s latest market update on the sector.
Hotels are increasingly viewing tech as a revenue driver, with AI delivering “measurable ROI” in pricing and personalization. AI in hospitality has shifted from pilots to scaled deployment, reshaping guest experience, pricing and operations, as around 82 percent of hotels are expanding their AI usage in 2026, the report said.
My colleague Rafael Canton noted a flurry of travel tech deals last year. He put together a piece showcasing eight of them.
“You had such a gutting of the market through covid and now we’re back to post-covid travel from business, personal travel,” Jason Myler, a managing director within Brown Gibbons Lang & Company’s technology team, told Rafael at the time. “For two years people were pent up and not going anywhere, and we’ve been back for a while.”
It’s not just tech that’s appealing to private equity. The sector remains fragmented, creating plenty of consolidation opportunities for those looking to build hospitality platforms. International visitor spending is also set to break records this year, providing further tailwinds for the segment, according to Houlihan’s report.
That’s all from me this morning. Michael Schoeck will be with you later today with the US Wire, and I’ll be back in my usual Friday slot tomorrow.
Cheers,
Nina