Secret Escapes attracts Old Mutual backing

LUXURY holiday discount firm Secret Escapes has secured £52m in funding from Old Mutual, providing “a great signal to markets” eyeing its future listing.

The fresh capital is the latest in a string of investments in the online travel company and takes the total equity raised by Secret Escapes to more than £150m.

Alex Saint, the Secret Escapes chief executive and founder, told The Daily Telegraph that Old Mutual differed from previous “early stage funders” such as Google Ventures and Octopus Investments. The fund manager brought “a completely different perspective” to the firm he set up in 2011.

While Mr Saint insisted an initial public offering (IPO) was not the only move Secret Escapes was targeting, he said a listing “is definitely one of the options open to us”.

“Old Mutual is another step along that path,” he said. “They have a great view of the public sphere; most of their investments are listed.”

“Clearly, if [an IPO] is the route we plan to go down, Old Mutual’s experience will be invaluable,” Mr Saint added. Secret Escapes, whose primetime TV advertising has been fronted by Holby City actress Camilla Arfwedson, boasts 50m members worldwide, 20m of whom are in the UK.

In October the firm raised £83m in fourth-round funding from Singapore’s Temasek, existing investor Idinvest Partners and Silicon Valley Bank.

Despite the size of its investment, Old Mutual will not have a member on Secret Escapes’ board. The fund manager will be represented by a board observer instead. “They [Old Mutual] are already talking about potential M&A deals,” Mr Saint said.