Meridian sells Loveholidays stake

The overall transaction size is reputed to value the company at £180m and is understood to be Livingbridge’s largest investment to date.

Loveholidays is a short-haul beach holiday company that was backed by Meridian from start up and Darren Thompson of Meridian was a Non-Executive Director from inception.

Livingbridge's investment will be used to fund growth through additional customers and more repeat bookings. It will also work with loveholidays to support innovation and product expansion.

CEO Alex Francis commented “Meridian backed the business at a very early stage in its development, recognising both the opportunity and the quality of the management team. Darren sat on the Board for the crucial 2 years post investment and provided insight and valuable contributions that enabled us to make often difficult decisions."

Darren Thompson adds "Alex, Jonny and his team are the hardest working management team we have ever come across and we are delighted to have been part of their successful journey."

With the largest equity stake outside the management team, Meridian realised a significant return on their investment.