Ropes & Gray advises Silverfleet Capital on its majority stake acquisition of escorted tours operator Riviera Travel

December 14, 2017
Attorneys:

Ropes & Gray has advised Silverfleet Capital, the Pan-European private equity firm that specialises in buy-to-build, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Riviera Travel, a leading specialist holiday operator offering a global portfolio of escorted tours and cruises.

Founded in 1984 and based in Burton-on-Trent in the UK, Riviera is a leading operator of escorted tours with a focus on the over 55s market. The company provides European tour holidays, river and ocean cruises, city breaks, and long-haul tours with varied itineraries combining leisure with education and entertainment. Riviera continues to diversify its range of holidays and currently offers tours and cruises to 50 countries, attracting over 118,000 customers per year.

The deal is expected to complete shortly and the terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The London-based Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity partner John Newton.

This is the latest deal in what has been a strong year for Ropes & Gray’s private equity team, both in London and globally.  Significant deals advised by the London office in 2017 include:

Globally, over a two week period in early autumn alone, the firm advised its long-standing client Bain Capital on five significant deals: