Inflexion looks for strong return from On The Beach IPO

It is understood the company is looking for a market valuation of around £200m, which will mean it is worth around ten times earnings of £20m. Such a valuation would mean a significant return for Inflexion, which bought the business from rival Isis Equity Partners for £73m last October.

Inflexion has exited two other businesses via floats on the London Stock Exchange this year, albeit with mixed fortunes. Its listing of National Accident Helpline — the claims company known for its Plasticine “Underdog” TV adverts — missed its hoped-for market valuation of £100m and was instead priced at £82.3m.

On the Beach specialises in short-haul packaged beach holidays and sells more than 900,000 a year.

Package holidays account for almost half of all overseas holidays by UK holidaymakers with around 16.5m booking package holidays, according to travel association Abta. In addition around 45pc of all packaged beach holidays in the UK are booked online, a market expected to grow by 10pc over the next few years.

The company is also gearing up for an international expansion drive and it recently launched a Scandinavian website and plans to create German and Dutch sites. On The Beach will also expand its long-haul offering, starting with Dubai, with plans to add the Far East and the Caribbean.

Unlike other recent technology flotations, On The Beach has been profitable from the start, some ten years ago. Founder Simon Cooper began the company from his Manchester terrace house generating holiday leads from Teletext.

Inflexion declined to comment.

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