riviera travel owner

Riviera Travel hires bankers to set sail with new owner

Silverfleet Capital has appointed Baird to oversee an auction of the river cruise and holiday operator aimed at the over-55s, Sky News understands.

City editor @MarkKleinmanSky

Friday 8 March 2024 14:38, UK

The owners of Riviera Travel, one of Britain's biggest providers of escorted foreign tours for the over-55s, have hired bankers to prepare a sale of the company.

Sky News understands that Silverfleet Capital, which has owned Riviera since 2017, has hired Baird, the investment bank, to oversee an auction later this year.

Riviera runs river cruises as well as holidays to destinations in Europe, India and South Africa.

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Founded in 1984 by Michael Wright, it was initially backed by private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners in 2014.

The value of any prospective deal was unclear on Friday, although parts of the travel industry have recovered strongly in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.

The impending auction of Riviera comes as Saga, the London-listed insurance and travel group, explores options for its own cruise business.

Saga confirmed in January that it was examining ways to release capital from the division, which comprises the Spirit of Adventure ships.

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Riviera is one of only four remaining assets in the Silverfleet portfolio, having once been one of London's most prominent mid-market private equity investors.

It also owns Sigma, an aerospace components supplier.

A spokesman for Silverfleet declined to comment.

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Riviera Travel founder cruises to another payday

Michael Wright, a Midlands entrepreneur who set up his own travel company more than 30 years ago, is set for a big payday after his business was put on the auction block for £250m.

Riviera Travel, founded in 1984, is set to go up for sale after its majority owner, Phoenix Equity Partners, hired the professional services firm PwC to find new investors, sources said.

The auction comes less than three years after travel tycoon Wright, 61, sold a majority stake to Phoenix, valuing the operator at £120m.

Riviera, which makes underlying earnings of nearly £25m a year, specialises in all-inclusive European river cruises and lavish trips for wealthy customers.

The company mainly sells escorted tours to travellers aged over 55. It has recently launched in America and Australasia and has also started offering holidays for solo travellers.

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A former NatWest bank clerk, Wright retained a “significant minority” stake after the 2014 sale to Phoenix, and currently acts as a non-executive director.

Private equity sources said a sale would value Riviera at about £250m, catapulting Wright up the list of Britain’s top earners. According to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, the Staffordshire-based entrepreneur has already amassed a fortune of £135m — through the 2014 sale and other business interests.

Wright’s fortune increased by £10m last year, according to the Rich List, which ranked the tycoon as 820th in the country for individual wealth.

Riviera made a £9.2m profit in 2015 on turnover of £126m, according to its most recent set of available accounts. Leisure industry sources said profitability has increased significantly since then due to a surge in the popularity of river cruises.

The sale talks are said to be at an early stage, although Riviera has been in contact with City bankers and advisers for several months, insiders said.

Investment heavyweights such as Bridgepoint and Equistone, the former buyout arm of Barclays, have registered an interest in purchasing the company in the past.

A successful auction would generate a handsome return for Phoenix, best known in the City for owning the fashion brand LK Bennett and restaurant chain Busaba Eathai. Phoenix is also selling Musto, the sporting and outdoor clothing brand favoured by the Queen and Duchess of Cambridge.

Riviera Travel hires bankers to set sail with new owner

The owners of Riviera Travel, one of Britain's biggest providers of escorted foreign tours for the over-55s, have hired bankers to prepare a sale of the company.

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Phoenix Equity Partners has raised financing to acquire Riviera Travel

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Client Location: United Kingdom

Target: Riviera Travel

Target Location: United Kingdom

Buyer: Phoenix Equity Partners

Buyer Location: United Kingdom

Owner: Private Equity

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Riviera Travel Has Been Acquired by Silverfleet Capital From Phoenix Equity Partners

Phoenix Equity Partners (Phoenix), a leading UK middle-market private equity firm, has to announcd that it has entered into a binding contract to sell Riviera Travel (Riviera) to Silverfleet Capital (Silverfleet).

Founded in 1984 and based in Burton-on-Trent in the UK, Riviera is a major operator of escorted tours with a focus on the over 55s market. The Company provides European tour holidays, river and ocean cruises, city breaks, and long-haul tours with varied itineraries combining leisure with education and entertainment. Riviera continues to diversify its range of holidays and currently offers tours and cruises to 50 countries, attracting over 118,000 customers per year.

Phoenix first partnered with Riviera’s CEO David Clemson in 2014 to support a management buyout of the business.  Since then, Riviera has significantly increased revenues and profitability by driving growth through the direct-to-consumer channel, adding new and complementary products, and expanding internationally.  David will continue to lead the business through the next stage of its growth.

David Burns, Managing Partner at Phoenix, said: “We are delighted with the strong growth that Riviera has achieved during our investment period. This growth, combined with Riviera’s recognition in the industry – including Which? Travel brand of the year 2017 – is testament to the complete focus on customer satisfaction at Riviera. It has been a huge pleasure working with the Riviera team and we wish them every continued success for the future.”

David Clemson, CEO of Riviera, said: “I am immensely proud of what we have achieved over the past three years and I’ve really valued our partnership with Phoenix.  I look forward to working with Silverfleet over the coming years as we continue to provide fantastic experiences to both our existing, loyal customers and new holidaymakers alike.”

Corporate finance advisers on the transaction were PwC. Travers Smith (legal), PwC (financial due diligence), and LEK (commercial due diligence) advised Phoenix and Riviera.

Deloitte advised Silverfleet on the transaction structure and tax aspects of the deal. The transaction was led by Roger Wightman and James Hatton from the Deloitte M&A tax team, with specialist input from our VAT and management equity teams. The team leveraged its previous experience and insights from recent successful Private Equity deals in the tour operator and travel sector, and brought in expertise from across the firm in order to deliver the transaction.

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Riviera travel founder steps down as director.

Riviera Travel founder Michael Wright is no longer a director of the company, an update on Companies House has confirmed.

Riviera’s sales and marketing director, Ben Hitchcock, said Wright’s intention to “step away from the business” was signalled when he sold a majority stake of the company to Phoenix Equity Partners in 2014.

Private equity firm Silverfleet Capital subsequently bought a majority stake in Riviera in December.

Hitchcock confirmed that Wright retains an investment in Riviera.

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Riviera Travel appoints Phil Hullah as CEO

Riviera Travel has announced Phil Hullah as its new CEO, effective 2 March 2020.

He will succeed David Clemson, who will stay with the business as a shareholder and non-executive director.

Hullah said: “I am honoured and delighted to be taking over as CEO. It’s a pleasure to be working with Rivera’s fantastic team of passionate staff. It’s a very exciting time for the business as we expand across all our product lines and continue to improve the customer experience. I look forward to working with the team to build on everything that has been achieved in recent years.”

Hullah joined Riviera in October 2019 as COO. He has a “wealth” of senior leadership experience in consumer-facing businesses. Most recently he was deputy chairman of AVADO, an international digital education business, which he led as CEO from 2010 to 2018.

Prior to being CEO of AVADO, Phil was managing director of Laithwaites Wine and commercial director of John Lewis.

David Clemson joined Riviera in 2008 and has been “instrumental” in driving Riviera’s transformation. During this period, Riviera has recorded several achievements, including increased revenues and a maintained track record of 35 years of unbroken revenue growth; introduced and built an agency sales channel, and launched new holiday types.

It also also won numerous awards including the Which? Travel Brand of the Year in 2017 and Which? recommendations in each of the last 7 years.

Clemson said: “It’s been a huge privilege to lead Riviera. I am deeply grateful to Riviera’s fantastic team, its founder Michael Wright and the Board for their tireless commitment to the business.

“I would like to thank our loyal customers and channel partners for continuing to put their trust in us year after year. Having worked with Phil over the last few months, I am confident that the business will thrive under his leadership.”

To find out more about Riviera travel, visit rivieratravel.co.uk.

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