Intrepid Travel has announced a strategic partnership with French-based investment company Genairgy, which has secured a minority equity stake in the travel wholesaler.
The strategic partnership will help Intrepid achieve its goal of becoming the world’s first billion-dollar adventure travel company by 2025.
The agreement will support Intrepid in four key growth areas: digital transformation, product innovation, market expansion and purpose initiatives.
Intrepid co-founders Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester, who started the business in 1989, retain majority ownership of the company and remain on the board as chairman and director, respectively.
James Thornton will continue as Intrepid’s CEO and a member of the board, and non-executive directors Liz Savage and Sarah Morgan will also continue in their board roles, with Genairgy owner Julien Leclercq the only new board addition.
“As the travel industry starts to recover from the pandemic, we remain focused on building the best travel company for the world,” Thornton said.
“The fact that Genairgy and Intrepid have come together at this time demonstrates real confidence in the future of sustainable experience-rich travel. It’s clear that what was once considered a niche will become a mainstay tourism model post-COVID.”
Genairgy is no stranger to investing in the travel industry. It owns destination management company Altai and has an adventure travel division with several investments in the sector.
“We are excited to find a partner with the same values as us and we look forward to helping Intrepid achieve its full potential as we emerge from the global pandemic,” Leclercq said.
“While Intrepid has maintained an impressive history of growth, it was their genuine commitment to sustainable travel and B Corp credentials that truly set them apart.”
The transaction is expected to complete by early April 2021, and follows a similar one nutted out between G Adventures and Certares last month.
