Leading tailor-made wintersports operator Ski Solutions has supported the management buyout of Highlands-based adventure operator, Wilderness Scotland (www.wildernessscotland.com), after securing £3.1m of follow-on investment funding from Mobeus.
Wilderness Scotland is a tour operator based in Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands, which offers a range of walking, cycling and kayaking tours in Scotland, the North of England and Ireland.
The enlarged group has been renamed Active Travel Group (www.activetravelgroup.co.uk) and will comprise Wilderness Scotland and its sister brand Wilderness Ireland, alongside Ski Solutions and outbound cycle and walking operators BSpoke and Cycling for Softies.
Active Travel Group expects to have combined sales in excess of £25m in 2018 and brings together a team of 75 passionate outdoors and mountain travel professionals looking after over 20,000 clients on ski and adventure holidays.
Mobeus invested £6.3m in Ski Solutions in August 2017 as a platform investment with the clear strategic objective of leveraging its strengths, scaling the business and creating a broader, more balanced (summer and winter) activities business. Following the original investment, the Mobeus Origination team conducted a thorough acquisition search which identified Wilderness Scotland as the most attractive investment opportunity.
The deal was led by Ashley Broomberg, supported by Danielle Garland. Justin Maltz sits on the board.
Mobeus Partner Ashley Broomberg commented, “We are delighted to have brought Ski Solutions and Wilderness Scotland together to create an exciting and ambitious travel group just 12 months after our original investment. Active Travel Group combines several brands recognised for product expertise and customer excellence and is well on the way to delivering a compelling range of year-round activity holidays.”