Jamieson is pleased to announce it has advised the management team of Great Rail Journeys (“GRJ”) on the acquisition of the business by Duke Street, the UK based mid-market private equity firm, from its previous Private Equity owners ECI Partners.
York based Great Rail Journeys is the world’s leading provider of escorted rail holidays. GRJ offers almost 400 itineraries to over 50 countries globally. GRJ caters for a growing demographic group of culturally interested 55+ year old travellers who typically prioritise travel spend within their household budgets. Popular itineraries include a tour of India’s “Golden Triangle”, exploring the Swiss Alps on the Glacier Express and an iconic journey across Africa from Dar es Salaam to Cape Town. Last year, over 50,000 customers enjoyed a GRJ holiday and the Company is proud that over half of its business each year comes from its database.
Over the last five years GRJ has performed strongly, tapping into new source markets for its rail tours including Australia and more recently the US, following the establishment of an office in New York in 2017. The business has also just launched, for summer 2019, a unique and highly differentiated rail based premium river cruise offering which builds upon very strong pre-existing demand for such holidays from within its customer database.
The Jamieson team of Stuart Coventry and David Kirkpatrick advised the GRJ team on the terms of transaction and the management incentive arrangements to be implemented under Duke Streets majority ownership
