Flight Centre case study : PwC

This is a story about how PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance teams in the United Kingdom and Australia supported Flight Centre in its pursuit of market expansion.

Chapter 1 Setting the scene

Founded in 1982, Flight Centre is one of the largest travel agencies in the world and has a market cap of AUD$4bn. It operates leisure and corporate travel businesses in 23 countries, across Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, Europe, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Asia.

Flight Centre’s vision is to become the world’s most exciting and profitable travel retailer - delivering amazing experiences to its people, its customers and partners.

As part of this vision, Flight Centre’s goal is to expand its global leisure operations, including in the luxury travel market. The opportunity to acquire the premium luxury travel brand, Scott Dunn, was an important step in that strategy, with its strong team and presence in the UK, US and Singapore.

“We are very excited to welcome the Scott Dunn team to Flight Centre and grow our leisure presence in the large UK and US luxury markets, while also fast-tracking our objective of developing a global luxury collection of travel brands. PwC CF provided invaluable support to us throughout this transaction. Their M&A expertise, hands on style and sheer can-do attitude were immense. Thank you PwC for supporting us with this excellent outcome.”

David Smith,Company Secretary and General Manager of Mergers and Acquisitions, Flight Centre*

Chapter 2 How we helped

As a result of the strong relationships built over a number of years and extensive knowledge of the travel industry sector, our team was appointed by Flight Centre to support the acquisition of the premium luxury travel brand, Scott Dunn.

Having worked together previously, there was a strong sense of trust and collaboration between Flight Centre and the PwC Corporate Finance team.

Working across different time zones, dealing with a listed client, and the complexity of multiple territory travel industry regulations, the team was able to adapt and do things differently and discreetly for the success of the transaction. By including our financial due diligence and tax teams with their global acumen, the team carefully advised the client through the multiple components of this transaction.

We used our industry and market knowledge, listened to the client and came together as a community of solvers to deliver a successful acquisition.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Flight Centre and I am very proud to have led my team in this transaction. The way we worked together was intrinsic to delivering this successful outcome, and I thank David and the Flight Centre team for putting their trust in us. We look forward to watching Scott Dunn continue to flourish under its new ownership.”

Rick Jones,UK Hospitality, Travel and Leisure Leader, PwC United Kingdom

Chapter 3 Making a Difference

Through this transaction, Flight Centre has significantly enhanced its offering in the UK, US and Singapore’s luxury travel market and has strengthened its presence in a segment of the travel market and in geographies where it was previously under represented, with a well known brand with significant heritage.

^{*Testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other customers. Testimonials are no guarantee of future performance or success. This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors.}