Skift Take

Two well-known family travel agencies come under one umbrella, driven by private equity backing to grow. Expect more such deals to happen in the coming months.

Valerie Wilson Travel, one of the iconic family-owned luxury travel agencies, has been acquired by the much larger travel management company Frosch, which is also family-owned but recently got minority investment from private equity investment from PE firm EagleTree Capital.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Frosch had with $2.4 billion in 2019 sales, while Valerie Wilson Travel had $325 million in sales, according to annual Travel Weekly Power List.

NYC-based Valerie Wilson Travel will continue to operate independently under its current brand, headed by founder and CEO Valerie Ann Wilson, who founded the agency in 1981. With this deal, Frosch continues on its acquisition streak, and even during the pandemic since last year it has acquired CorpTrav and Luxe Travel and took a majority stake in Plaza Travel.

The two agencies are part of different consortia and plan to continue with the arrangement: VWT with Virtuoso, and Frosch with Signature Travel Network.

smartphone

The Daily Newsletter

Our daily coverage of the global travel industry. Written by editors and analysts from across Skift’s brands.

Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch

Up Next

Loading next stories