Scott Dunn / Inflexion Private Equity

Cavendish is delighted to announce that it advised on the sale of a majority stake in Scott Dunn Holdings Ltd (Scott Dunn), the award winning luxury travel brand, to Inflexion Private Equity. The price and terms of the sale were not disclosed.

The transaction followed a pre-sale strategic review of Scott Dunn undertaken by Cavendish during 2014 and culminated in a limited competitive process to short-listed trade and financial bidders.

Founded in 1986 by Andrew Dunn, Scott Dunn provides a broad range of luxury holidays from skiing and Mediterranean resorts to tailor-made journeys and bespoke honeymoons. Scott Dunn is recognised as a premium brand in the sector and is distinguished by delivering very high levels of service to its guests.

Scott Dunn was voted number one specialist tour operator by the readers of Condé Nast Traveller in 2014. The company operates within the luxury travel market, which has grown by more than 12% CAGR over the last three years, as demand from affluent customers in the UK and overseas has increased.

Andrew Dunn, Founder and President of Scott Dunn, commented: “Jonathan, Anya and Eimear did an excellent job and provided expert and diligent advice. Most importantly they worked hard to get the deal across the line. As expected, the project work and transaction spanned a number of months during which time the Scott Dunn team was given support to minimize disruption to the running of the business. Cavendish demonstrated a very good knowledge of luxury brands which, along with their private equity expertise, enabled them to find the perfect partner for Scott Dunn. The proof is in the result though. The deal terms achieved and transaction timing fully met my expectations. I would gladly recommend them to other business owners.”

Simon Russell, CEO of Scott Dunn said: “Cavendish achieved a superb result for both the shareholders and management team, putting in place all the things needed ahead of the sale then running a highly effective process. In the end it all came together beautifully – and very very quickly!”

Jonathan Buxton, Partner and head of the consumer group at Cavendish, commented: “We have greatly enjoyed working with Andrew Dunn, Simon Russell and the team during this process. Scott Dunn is a true luxury brand with a unique breadth of offering and we were able to attract a huge amount of interest from both trade and private equity investors.”

The transaction builds on Cavendish’s expertise in the wider consumer and leisure sectors, including advising businesses such as: Eton Hotels, Searcy, Princess Yachts, Smythson, Liberty, Raleigh Bicycles, Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb and, most recently, the elite cycling company, Boardman Bikes.

Scott Dunn is one of a number of previous and current travel mandates for Cavendish, and follows its appointment during 2014 to advise on strategic options for leading East African luxury safari group Nomad Tanzania.

“Thank you very much to the Cavendish team for all of your help and advice on this transaction. We are not sure how would have got to the end without you and you had an ability to find a mid-ground where both sides were happy – this certainly takes some skill.

Thank you for all of your hard work and we would not hesitate in recommending you and your services to anyone else.”

Martin Brown, Founder and majority shareholder of Wine-Searcher

“The Cavendish team, led by Lord Leigh of Hurley and Rebecca McCredie has done a fantastic job in managing the transaction with great skill. They were crucial in delivering this deal and its successful outcome – many thanks to the whole team.”

Johnny Goedhuis, Chairman of Goedhuis Waddesdon Limited

“In completing this transaction, we wanted to ensure that the growth and success of the business that we have built to date is the foundation for further expansion in the years to come. We are delighted with the outcome and we would like to thank the team at finnCap Cavendish for all of their help throughout this process. They are experts at advising founders and entrepreneurs and they provided us with invaluable advice and guidance throughout.”

Hugo Douglas-Pennant and Martyn Bell, co-founders of Bramblecrest

“We are delighted to be partnering with Rockpool. This transaction will enable us to accelerate our long-term growth objectives and help expand our international presence, especially in the US. Karri and Amy achieved a fantastic result for us and their ecommerce sector expertise, professionalism and unwavering dedication throughout the process were instrumental in achieving a successful completion.”

Nick Comer, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Rosetta Brands

“We are immensely grateful for the hard work and expertise we received from finnCap in securing this fundraise. Zuleika’s knowledge and communication skills were outstanding. It is the first time we have raised external funds so we were heavily reliant on their introductions, all of which were a good fit for Ro&Zo. Zuleika’s guidance through the process was exemplary. We are delighted to have chosen Pembroke as our new shareholders and look forward to a long relationship with them as we continue our growth strategy.”

Rachel Heather, CEO and Co-Founder, Ro&Zo

“On behalf of all of the shareholders at Peach, a huge thank you to the team at finnCap Cavendish – they have done a great job. With the unprecedented macro back-drop that we have all been experiencing, we needed an adviser who was thoughtful, tenacious and prepared to go the extra mile. We got of all this in spades from the finnCap Cavendish team and it has been a pleasure to work with them. We would not hesitate to recommend them to other business founders and entrepreneurs who are in need of experience-led judgement and advice.”

Hamish Stoddart, co-founder & CEO, Peach Pubs

“I would also like to thank the team at finnCap Cavendish. They have done a great job in finding us the right buyer and running a smart and efficient process. Their support throughout has been excellent and combined with their commercial approach and sector knowledge, they have made great advisers for us.”

Morgan Davies, Founder of Barburrito

“Joe Stelzer and his team at finnCap Cavendish were the perfect partners as we navigated this exciting next step for the group. The firm’s wealth of expertise in advising entrepreneurial growth businesses, partnered with their quality of service and professionalism was invaluable and helped make this deal function as smoothly as possible.”

Charles Barnett, Managing Director & Founder, Lyco Group

“This transaction is huge for our business as we look to continue our growth journey. We’re very excited to have raised enough capital from a leading impact investor to expand our market-leading position and maintain standards of excellence across all our products. We’re hugely grateful to the team at finnCap, who played a fundamental role, in what we hope, will be a very exciting growth story.”

Ben Wigley, CEO, Big Green Smile

“I would like to thank all of those involved in the process that has concluded with us ultimately choosing Neighborly as our partner going forward, those at finnCap Cavendish and our CFO Mike Bergin, without whom this would have not happened.”

Scott Mullins, President and CEO of Pimlico Plumbers