News
From sea to sky: LDC exits Iglu.com to Flight Centre after ten-year journey
10 Dec 2025
LDC, the leading private equity investor, has exited its investment in Iglu.com (‘Iglu’), the UK’s leading online travel agent specialising in cruise and ski holidays, to Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) after a transformational 10-year partnership during which the business more than doubled in value to £122m.
Iglu, which operates through three websites – Igluski.com, Iglucruise.com and Planetcruise.com – was founded in 1998 to disrupt the traditional ski holiday market, providing customers with instant access to the world’s leading ski holiday suppliers and later cruise lines through its online brands.
FLT is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, and has leisure and corporate travel business in 24 countries, spanning Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Europe, the UK, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Asia. The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and has a market capitalisation of around $AU3bn (£1.5bn).
Since LDC invested for a minority shareholding in 2015, Iglu has increased total transaction value to £450m, passenger numbers by 67% to 250,000 and headcount by 78% to 418. It has also invested significantly in its technology and booking systems, enabling it to secure more than 75% of online bookings in the UK cruise intermediary market. The business has expanded into new geographies, including Spain, Italy and Ireland, as well as new product areas such as tailor-made holidays, and its brands have won numerous industry awards, including Best Online Travel Agent at the Agent Achievement Awards and Outstanding Contribution for the Carnival Cruise Line at the UK Cruises Awards. Today, it offers customers access to over 50,000 cruises and 5,000 ski holidays.
LDC’s exit was led by Partner David Andrews, who backed the business in 2015, and Eliza Morton, Investment Executive. The transaction also marks a full exit for minority co-investor Beauport Partners. Post acquisition, CEO David Gooch will continue to lead the business.
LDC’s original investment proved transformational for Iglu, enabling us to take our proven model to new markets and dramatically scale our business whilst investing in our technology infrastructure and brands. Its continued support during the pandemic also meant we were able to take full advantage of the subsequent resurgence in international travel, which helped us re-accelerate our growth.”
David Gooch, CEO of Iglu, added: “With Flight Centre Travel Group, we’re able to build on the strong foundations developed with LDC’s support to continue our exciting journey and explore new opportunities to scale our business as part of a global specialist, underpinned by the same commitment to value and service that our loyal customers have come to expect from us. They also share our employee-first culture, which makes them a perfect home for Iglu.”
Our partnership with Iglu is a great example of our value-adding approach to investment, as well as the value of long-term support. Whilst the business is unrecognisable in terms of its technology, market presence and scale, Richard, David and the team have remained true to their founding principles of innovating the market, building win-win relationships with suppliers and always putting the customer first."
David continues; “With its global presence and market-leading technology infrastructure, Flight Centre Travel Group is the perfect new partner to support Iglu’s continued expansion and represents an excellent outcome for customers as well as colleagues. We wish them every success on the next stage of their journey.”
Greg Wills, CEO of Beauport Partners, added: “The journey Iglu has been on since the Beauport Team started working with them in 2017 has been both impressive and transformational. I’m very proud of what’s been achieved and as a team we have all genuinely enjoyed supporting the Iglu Leadership team during this stage of their business. I look forward to seeing the company continue to progress under its new ownership and am excited to see what comes next”.
LDC has a successful track record in the consumer sector, having invested more than £400m into 21 businesses across travel and leisure, food and drink, and consumer goods over the last decade. Its portfolio also includes Neilson Active Holidays, the UK’s leading provider of overseas active holidays, LeMieux, the global equestrian brand, and Bramble Foods, a leading supplier of branded ambient foods.
LDC and Iglu were advised by Rothschild & Co, Travers Smith, KPMG and PwC Strategy&.
FLT was advised by BDO and Bird & Bird.