QF takes TripADeal stake

QANTAS expects its new partnership with TripADeal (TD breaking news) to significantly grow the tour operator’s revenue, with CEO Alan Joyce this morning saying he believes the travel business will treble in size over the coming years.

The agreement sees Qantas acquire a 51% stake in the business, along with a mechanism to acquire the remaining 49% in four years at a multiple of TripADeal’s bookings at the time.

Existing TripADeal shareholders, founders Norm Black and Richard Johnston along with private equity firm BGH Capital (TD 21 Sep 2020) remain “heavily invested” in the business, with Black telling TD he believes the additional exposure to the 14 million-strong Qantas Frequent Flyer database will “take this thing to the moon”.

It’s the biggest acquisition ever undertaken by Qantas Loyalty, with the deal seeing QFF members able to earn and redeem points on bookings.

Pre-COVID, TripADeal was growing at more than 40% annually, with 2019 bookings worth over $200 million.

And recovery appears to be well under way, with the business having just surpassed its previous biggest ever booking record.

Joyce said the deal would allow Qantas to participate in the postpandemic travel booking boom, with an increasing shift to online bookings and strong demand for affordable, curated packages.

TripADeal is “an Aussie success story built on delivering readymade holidays at very sharp prices, and their level of repeat customers show how well they do it,” Joyce said.

The company will remain headquartered in Byron Bay.

More from the TripADeal announcement at Qantas HQ in Sydney today on pages 5 and 6.