[adds more details] First Choice plc has bolstered its activity holidays sectors, spending an initial consideration of £16.6m on i-to-I, iExplore and WesternXposure.
It will pay a further total of up to £13.7m, dependent on performance. The individual price paid for each business has not been broken out but George Deeb, CEO of iExplore, told local paper Chicago Business that all three received roughly the same amount.
Chicago-based iExplore is an adventure travel portal generating 1.3m unique users a month. It was set up in 1999. Early investors in the business included Soros Private Equity Partners and National Geographic, both of whom sold out before First Choice bought in.
Deeb told Chicago Business: ‘I needed to get an exit plan for our venture capital backers...First Choice put an exciting growth plan in front of us, and I’m excited to be part of a $4-billion UK travel company.’
First Choice’s statement said that ‘the experiential online space is less mature than the online mainstream space and provides substantial opportunities.’
UK-based i-to-i operates in the ‘meaningful travel’ sector. It launched in 1995 providing TEFL courses and has since moved into volunteer travel, sending people on community development or conservation holidays, placing it as one of world leaders in ‘charity tourism’.
It also offers businesss the chance to send staff overseas via its Volunteer Partnerships Abroad Scheme. First Choice described this as ‘a significant area of future growth for the business’.
Its customer base comprises gap year students, aged 18-24, and career break travellers, aged 25-35. It has offices in Leeds, Denver USA, Melbourne Australia and Dungarvey Ireland.
The Yorkshire Post, interviewing i-to-i founder Deirdre Bounds, described it ‘an £8m turnover business’. Bounds, a stand-up comedienne who appeared on Channel Four’s Wife Swap, will stay on as CEO for six months. She admitted that First Choice had been after the business for some time.
Finally, WesternXposure is a Perth, Western Australia-based adventure tourism specialist, carrying 15K customers in the 20-45-year-old age bracket. First Choice owns Let’s Trek Australia, a similar business which specialises in eastern Australia.
First Choice coverage:
First Choice to launch laterooms in Europe (2/1/07)
First Choice makes £97.5m profit (7/12/06)
First Choice to speed up short-haul withdrawal (25/10/06)
First Choice makes US inroads (13/6/06)