Quadrant creates Australia experiential tourism platform

The platform - Experience Australia Group - is the product of an investment thesis based on growing demand for higher-end, experience-based tourism opportunities. "Within tourism, we pinpointed a growing demand for experiential travel, and started looking for companies with a strong position in an iconic Australian destination and like-minded vendors who want to be part of a larger group," Marcus Darville, managing partner at Quadrant, told The Australian Financial Review.

Perth-based Rottnest started as a passenger ferry service to the holiday island of Rottnest. Owned by Baileys Marine Group since 2007, it now also offers a range of package tours that involve activities such as snorkeling, bike rides, skydiving and whale watching.

Cruise Whitsundays is the dominant tourism player in the Whitsunday Islands in North Queensland. The company, which runs ferry services to the islands and trips to the Great Barrier Reef, was part of Marine Tourism, a New Zealand-based business that also provides similar services in Fiji.

Quadrant bought GSR from Allegro Funds earlier this year for an enterprise valuation of A$100-200 million ($75-150 million). Allegro acquired the business from UK group Serco in 2015 and executed a turnaround strategy based on cultivating tourist demand for three rail services: the Ghan between Adelaide and Darwin; the Indian Pacific between Sydney and Perth; and the Overland between Melbourne and Adelaide.

Quadrant is currently investing its eighth Australia and New Zealand-focused fund, which closed in August at A$980 million after approximately six weeks in the market.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Australia
• Quadrant Private Equity