SuperBreak and LateRooms could have a new boost in the city-break market following financial manoeuvres by Cox & Kings.
The operator has sold LateRooms UK to Malvern Enterprises UK for £20 million, while its 65.58%-owned subsidiary Holidaybreak has sold SuperBreak to Malvern for a net cash consideration of £9.25 million.
The deal includes a goodwill write-off on the sale of SuperBreak of £71.4 million.
The proceeds have been used to pay off debt and come as Cox & Kings buys a 49% in Malvern for £6.37 million. The remaining 51% is owned by “a reputed Europe-based private equity investor”.
A statement released by the operator said: “The transaction will enable Malvern to independently follow its own strategic growth path in the underpenetrated city-breaks market within the online package-tour space.
“Brands SuperBreak and LateRooms are likely to gain substantially from a unified management team under the strategic guidance of the private equity investor and C&K.”
Jane Atkins, sales director at SuperBreak, said: “This is very much business as usual at SuperBreak and we will be continuing our strategic development with the same board of directors and senior management team.We will continue with our ongoing plans, developing the best range of experiential short breaks on offer through the trade.
"However, under the new company, we will have new investors, alongside Cox and Kings that will allow us to share learnings and best practice, to accelerate these plans.”