The owner of Loveholidays, the online travel agent (OTA), has drafted in bankers to advise on a potential stock market debut.
Sky News understands that Livingbridge, the private equity firm, has appointed Rothschild to help coordinate plans for an initial public offering (IPO) of Loveholidays.
Sources said that Rothschild would oversee the appointment of other investment banks to work on a flotation in the coming weeks.
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The London market has been hit by a steep decline in IPO activity, with data showing that the first half of 2025 was among the worst for decades in terms of proceeds raised.
The timing of a Loveholidays IPO – which would be likely to value the company at well over £1bn – is still to be determined.
Loveholidays has been backed by Livingbridge since 2018, and has seen its financial performance improve markedly since the COVID pandemic threw the travel industry into chaos.
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The company specialises in trips to the Mediterranean and Canary Islands, and boasts that its inventory of 35,000 hotels and 99% of all flights result in 500 billion possible holiday packages.
It reportedly saw pre-tax profits rise by a fifth to £67.6m on sales of £284m in the year to October 2024.
Along with OnTheBeach and TUI, Loveholidays ranks among the UK’s biggest OTAs and has been a big winner from the post-pandemic resurgence in demand from holidaymakers.
Last year, Sky News reported that bidders including CVC Capital Partners, the private equity giant, were examining offers for a controlling stake in Loveholidays.
When that process was curtailed, it is also said to have explored the sale of a minority stake.
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Loveholidays was founded in 2012 by Alex Francis and Jonny Marsh, and now employs hundreds of people.
Livingbridge declined to comment on Wednesday.
