Private equity invests in travel and tourism; Westbridge to buy stake in financial planner from Foresight

Morning all, Craig McGlashan here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom.

With the summer in full swing, we thought it was a good time to round up some recent travel and tourism deals. We look at transactions in the world of immersive experiences, tour companies and hotels.

Next, WestBridge has agreed to buy a majority stake in Beckett Investment Management, an English financial planning business, from Foresight Group.

To finish, Marlin Equity Partners portfolio company Radar Healthcare has acquired Cemplicity, a patient experience and patient-reported outcomes platform.

Summer plans

It’s summer holiday season here in London, as well as much of Europe, so this morning we decided to take a look at some of the highlights from the world of travel and tourism private equity deals. Here they are in reverse chronological order.

Nazca Capital, through its Nazca Opportunities strategy, completed in July 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.

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.

The same month, 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 group holds the number one position in leisure travel in Sweden.

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.

Planning ahead

In fresh deal news, WestBridge has agreed to buy a majority stake in Beckett Investment Management, an English financial planning business, from Foresight Group.

Foresight, which is partially reinvesting, bought into Beckett in 2021. The exit will deliver a return of more than 5.0x and an IRR of over 40 percent.

Under Foresight’s ownership, Beckett grew its assets under management from £800 million ($1.1 billion; €937 million) to £2.1 billion and expanded its client base to more than 5,000. The company also became a certified B Corp.

Founded in 1988, Beckett provides investment planning, retirement strategies, wealth management and employee benefits advice from four offices in Bury St Edmunds, Norwich, Ipswich and Lowestoft. The company has completed eight add-on acquisitions since 2020.

“Beckett epitomises the type of business WestBridge looks to back,” said Luke Gilbert, senior investment manager. “Its growth to this point has been characterised by culture-led and organic-first initiatives, which will continue to be the fundamental pillars of its expansion plan. This approach has enabled Beckett’s eight successful add-on acquisitions since 2020.”

Experience measures

Marlin Equity Partners portfolio company Radar Healthcare has acquired Cemplicity, a patient experience and patient-reported outcomes platform.

Radar provides risk, quality and compliance software for the healthcare and social care sectors.

The acquisition adds capabilities in patient-reported experience measures, patient-reported outcome measures, real-time patient feedback, shared decision-making insights, surgical site inspection surveillance, service recovery feedback and post-care outcomes to Radar’s platform.

The deal follows Radar Healthcare’s recent acquisition of EIDO Healthcare, a digital consent and patient information provider. The combined business extends Radar Healthcare’s international footprint through Cemplicity’s operations in Australia and New Zealand, alongside a presence in the Middle East and the UK.

The combined platforms are designed to connect patient voice, experience and outcomes data with governance and improvement workflows, according to the companies, helping healthcare organizations identify risks earlier and reduce avoidable harm.

That’s it for today. Michael Schoeck will bring you the US Wire later today and Nina Lindholm will write to you from London tomorrow.

Cheers,

Craig