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Private equity firm Apax Partners today announced it is selling its majority stake in the Travelex Group, a retail foreign exchange specialist, to a group led by the Indian entrepreneur Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, together with equity partners associated with Centurion Investments..
Travelex is one of the world’s leading independent retail foreign exchange companies. Over the past 38 years, it has built the world’s largest retail network of specialist foreign exchange stores and Travelex has become a trusted and widely recognised brand in foreign exchange.
Apax Funds purchased a controlling stake in Travelex in 2005. During Apax Funds’ ownership period, the company committed substantial investment to enable significant growth, both geographically and through innovative product expansion.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed with today’s announcement, but the implied total enterprise value of Travelex is thought to be close to US$1.5 billion, including debt, based on the transaction, according to a report in the New York Times. For the 2013 calendar year, the core Revenue and core EBITDA of Travelex’s foreign exchange business were about US$1.2 billion (£695.0 million) and about US$134 million (£80.1 million), respectively.
Andrew Sillitoe, co-CEO at Apax Partners, said: “This is a very exciting opportunity for Travelex’s management, employees and other stakeholders to leverage the growth and success the company has achieved in recent years. Since Apax Funds took an ownership stake in 2005, we have worked closely with Lloyd Dorfman and the management team to transform Travelex into a stronger company, expanding the business through new markets and product offerings, and improving operational performance. The team has accomplished a great deal and we have every confidence in the business’s long-term prospects.”
The majority stake in Travelex is being sold to Indian entrepreneur Dr. Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, who is Chief Execcutive of the Abu Dhabi-based health care company NMC Health, and equity partners associated with Centurion Investments, a United Arab Emirates investment vehicle.
Closing of the acquisition remains subject to customary regulatory and other approvals and consents. The acquisition will apparently not result in additional debt being incurred by Travelex in connection with its financing and, other than in respect of the reorganisation of existing shareholder interests as a consequence of the transaction, it is intended to maintain the existing capital structure of Travelex intact after closing.
Travelex trades in more than 80 different currencies and does business in more than 50 countries of the world. It operates more than 1, 500 currency exchange stores at major airports and other prominent locations.
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