Rockaway buys UK school-travel leader Experience Education
What's the deal? Czech investment group Rockaway CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, founded by Jakub Havrlant, has acquired a 100% stake in Experience EducationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a British leader in educational school trips. The seller is TravelopiaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a travel group controlled by funds managed by US investment firm KKR. The parties did not disclose the price.
What does Experience Education do? It is one of Britain's largest organisers of school educational trips, working with 1,400 schools to arrange travel abroad and across the UK. It houses six brands — TravelboundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, SkiBoundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Edwin DoranDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Masterclass, World ChallengeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and JCADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — and organises trips for nearly 100,000 pupils and students each year.
By the numbers: The company has annual revenues of nearly CZK 2.5 billion. Rockaway says it is the only British operator covering all the main segments of the market.
What's the endgame? Rockaway plans to make Experience Education the base of a new European educational-travel group, expanding organically and through acquisitions in both Britain and continental Europe. The deal joins Rockaway FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s main private equity holdings.
Why now? The group sees opportunity in a fragmented European market served by many small providers. "Inside the large KKR group it lacked proper attention, which we see as a huge opportunity," said Robert Chmelař, managing partner of the Rockaway Alpha private equity fund (translated from Czech).
Existing management, led by chief executive John Upton, stays on. "Rockaway shares our belief in the importance of learning outside the classroom," Upton said.
The precedent: Rockaway has form in travel. In 2016 it bought Invia for roughly CZK 2 billion, expanded it through acquisitions, and sold it to Poland's WP HoldingDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in late 2024 for nearly €240 million — about three times the purchase price.
The signal: The deal marks Rockaway's continued western-European expansion through strong local companies, and bets that it can repeat the Invia playbook of consolidating a fragmented market into a continental leader.
Read more: forbes.cz
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
