Flight Centre Travel Group has reached an agreement to acquire Iglu, a British online cruise agency. The acquisition is aimed at accelerating growth within Flight Centre’s high-margin cruise business. Flight Centre Travel Group is a global travel retailer and corporate travel manager. It operates leisure and corporate travel businesses in more than 20 countries.
The transaction values Iglu at £122 million ($244.8 million), which includes £100 million upfront and up to £27 million in performance-based earnouts. Iglu’s digital platform will be integrated across Flight Centre’s leisure brands. This integration will enhance its omni-channel cruise offering in the UK and support expansion into the US and other markets.
Flight Centre anticipates that its cruise-related total transaction value will exceed $2 billion on an annualised basis this financial year, achieving this milestone two years ahead of schedule. The company has also upgraded its full-year underlying profit before tax guidance to a range of $315 million to $350 million. This revision reflects the anticipated contribution from Iglu.
Furthermore, Flight Centre will continue its $200 million on-market buy-back program. To date, the company has already repurchased almost $110 million worth of its own shares as part of this initiative.
