Travel Chapter operates the holidaycottages.co.uk and eight other domestic brands, including Cottages & Castles, Farm Holidays and the Wales property specialist Sugar & Loaf.
Investors ECI, a private equity firm, said it had made a return of 2.6 times its input, but did not disclose the sale price. Travel Chapter has around 8,000 properties on its books and bought Dyfi Cottages in December, which has 50 properties around southern Snowdonia.
In June, Travel Chapter made its largest acquisition to date, acquiring the Sally’s Cottages brand, which has more than 500 properties in the Lake District.
ECI said: “ECI partnered with Travel Chapter in 2018, and since then the business has grown strongly, both organically and through completing seven acquisitions, significantly expanding its geographic footprint and the number of high-quality properties it has available.
“In June 2021, the business made its largest acquisition to date, acquiring the award-winning Sally’s Cottages brand, which boasts over 500 properties in the Lake District.”
The sale to management was backed by another investment firm, ICG.
Travel Chapter chief executive Jayne McClure added: “ECI have been highly supportive in helping Travel Chapter deliver on both organic and acquisitive growth.
“Our shared alignment on the importance of both owners and customers helped us to attract fantastic new properties and continue to deliver our exceptional customer service as we have scaled.”
Travel Chapter announced ambitions to list on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) in October following a boom year for domestic tourism but postponed this a month later due to “market volatility”.
Travel Chapter’s new investor said there was “huge further growth potential for the business”. James Roddis, ICG managing director, said: “We are looking forward to working with Jayne and the wider management team in the next exciting stage in Travel Chapter’s journey.”
ICG has a track record in UK holiday investments. It bought Park Holidays for £362 million in 2016, selling it in November 2021 for £950 million to US investors on the back of the staycation boom.
