TUI Group has reached an agreement with Private Equity firm KKR to sell Travelopia, which promotes itself as the world’s largest collection of specialised travel brands. 

KKR has paid £325 million for the division, which counts Hayes & Jarvis and Sunsail among its brands.

The Enterprise Value equals 14.4 times Travelopia’s 2015/16 underlying EBITA and 7.7 times its underlying EBITDA.

The sale of Travelopia was announced in May 2016 and marks another milestone in transforming TUI into an integrated tourism business focused on hotel and cruise brands.

The proceeds will be invested in expansion of the growth segments hotels and cruises.

Fritz Joussen, CEO TUI Group, said: “The sale of Travelopia is the next strategic step in sharpening TUI’s profile. We consistently continue to focus on becoming a vertically integrated tourism business. Both the Group and its shareholders benefit from the negotiated result. We have ambitious goals and want to take the TUI brand into new regions in the world in the coming years. A clear strategic direction supports this course.”

Travelopia was previously part of Specialist Group and comprises a portfolio of more than 50 specialist travel brands. It had been managed as an independent unit since the merger of TUI AG and TUI Travel PLC at the end of 2014.