Simon Cooper’s ‘On the Beach’ to go listed

On The Beach – the online low-cost holiday provider is reportedly looking into becoming a listed company.

According to a report in The Sunday Times, the private-equity-backed company founded 11 years ago in Macclesfield by its current chief executive Simon Cooper, has hired brokers to lead a process that could see the business raise £300m.
The S.T. said a successful IPO would net Cooper and his management team £75m as they own 25% of the business.
Some 12 months ago The Sunday Telegraph reported that On The Beach’s private equity owner, Inflexion, was looking seriously at listing the company, which it acquired in October 2013 from Living Bridge (then known as ISIS) in a £73m deal.
On the Beach specialises in short-haul beach holidays and sells more than 900,000 a year. Over the last year it has been expanding internationally and has launched a Scandinavian website.
It will also expand its long-haul offering, starting with Dubai, with plans to add the Far East and the Caribbean.
Many leading corporate financiers are expecting a wave of autumn floats on the back of the economic certainty afforded by the Conservatives’ general election win in May. – a view endorsed by a number of the winning advisers at The Rainmaker Awards last week.