[Birmingham, UK, New York, USA, Amsterdam, Netherlands – October [9th], 2023 – Attraction World Group (AWG) is thrilled to announce the successful completion of a ground-breaking transaction orchestrated by a newly founded international investment consortium, Montana World Investments. The funding for this transformative move is backed by Highmore Group and its Trade and Specialty Finance business (NYC), along with additional investors from the Netherlands and the United States. Notably, AWG’s executive team join Montana World Investments as shareholders, solidifying their commitment to the company’s future.
This landmark investment opportunity enables stakeholders to support a UK market leader as it embarks on an ambitious journey of globalization and expansion into exciting industries such as loyalty programs, online travel agents (OTAs), airlines, rail, and transportation, and globalising consumer direct channels FloridaTix, AttractionTix, and GoSeeDo. The infusion of capital will be strategically employed to fuel growth across new markets, make strategic investments in cutting-edge technologies, and pursue acquisitions that align with AWG’s forward-looking vision.
Highmore, which has in excess of $2.5bn under management, is a full-service, SEC-registered, asset manager offering both private and institutional client’s expertise across the alternative investment universe. The deal also facilitates an exit for previous AWG shareholders, Ten Oceans.
Cattaneo Corporate Finance acted as corporate finance adviser to AWG on the transaction. Legal advice was provided to Highmore by the London office of Arnold & Porter while Raworths provided legal advice to the acquisition vehicle, Ansons to AWG, and Mills & Reeve to Ten Oceans.
Olly Nicholls, Group CEO of AWG, shared his enthusiasm for this pivotal moment, saying: “This new chapter for AWG is incredibly exciting for all involved, but most especially for AWG employees. Over the past two years, we’ve identified new opportunities within the travel industry and crafted a compelling proposition for our existing and new partners on a global scale. Our strategy has evolved from being UK-focused to truly global. With the backing of our new funder, we are actively working on bringing strategically aligned businesses into the group to enhance our strategic goals. I extend a heartfelt thank you to the entire AWG team for their recent hard work. Our culture and values have been the bedrock of our success thus far and will continue to guide us as we forge ahead.”
Scott Peters, Cattaneo Corporate Finance, the firm that managed the transaction, expressed their excitement, noting, “This is an exciting deal to have worked on. The combination of the vision of the AWG team and the innovative funding structure from Highmore and Montanta World Investments will allow AWG to capitalise on a number of exciting market opportunities and we are delighted to have successfully concluded this transaction for them.”
Dipak Jogia, Managing Partner, and Co-Founder at Highmore, “We are pleased to have supported Montana World Investments and Attraction World Group with this innovative funding package. We are highly constructive on the wider leisure sector and see this as the first step towards building AWG into a diversified group across the ever-evolving travel landscape with the proven management team and ownership group.”
About Attraction World Group
Attraction World Group is the UK’s leading experience ecosystem. Since its creation, Attraction World has enabled over 13 million customers to pre-book worldwide attractions, confident in the knowledge that they are supported by an incomparable customer service team.
With its team of attractions experts and industry-leading technology, Attraction World Group is uniquely positioned to help its travel partners grow their sales of attraction tickets. They offer an unrivaled range of theme parks, sightseeing tours, theatre shows, experience days, and other activities in over 30 countries around the world.
To find out more visit, www.attractionworldgroup.com.
About Montana World Investments
Montana World Investments is a dynamic global venture capital and advisory firm dedicated to shaping the future of travel technology. With a passion for innovation, we specialize in investments, acquisitions, and providing strategic guidance to travel tech startups. Our mission is clear: to create smart tourism cities through cutting-edge technology and collaborative partnerships.
To find out more visit, www.montanaworldinvestments.com
About Highmore Group
Highmore is a full-service, SEC-registered asset manager, with a particularly deep expertise in alternative investments.
We work with private and institutional clients either tactically, providing access to and support for specific investment opportunities, or holistically, managing clients’ complete investment portfolios through a proprietary risk mitigation framework. Highmore presently manages and advises on assets in excess of $2.5 billion.
To find out more visit, www.highmore.com.
Media Contacts:
Oliver Nicholls
Group, CEO
Dionne Roberts
Social Media & Marketing Executive
