Speakman confirmed on Friday morning (June 1) he and wife Maureen had sold their remaining interest in the homeworking agency they set up in 1994.
Vitruvian Partners on Thursday night (May 31) completed a “secondary management buyout” from Equistone Partners Europe, a deal understood to be worth around £250 million.
Equistone invested around £100m in the business in October 2014 in a move lead by chief executive Steve Byrne. Speakman stood down as chairman around nine months later.
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Since then, the business has grown significantly. Travel Counsellors’ total transactions have increased by £130m to £512m per year over this period while the business now supports nearly 2,000 self-employed franchisees across seven countries, including the UK. Statutory turnover and profit have grown, on average, 17% and 20% respectively per annum since the Equistone investment.
“It’s the end of an era in many respects,” Speakman told TTG after announcing the sale of the couple’s stake in an email sent shortly after 7am on Friday.
“We didn’t want to steal their thunder, but at the same time, we didn’t want them to steal ours as it’s such a personal thing for us.
“We wanted to say it on my own terms rather than leaving it all to Vitruvian to do it their way. We’ve still emotionally connected to the business."
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Speakman continued: “After we sold to Equistone and I resigned as chairman, we’ve really had nothing to do formally with the business. We had no say in the decision to sell. I understand it has been going on for quite some time, we were not privy to the details.
“The deal just happened to be done last night. I wanted to announce it separately.”
