A-ROSA Kreuzfahrten

A-ROSA organises end-to-end holiday experiences for its customers through eleven homogenous vessels on the major European rivers, such as the Rhine, Main, Danube, Rhone / Saone and Seine. River cruising is a fast growing sub-sector of the leisure travel market, as the benefits of visiting a number of Europe’s leading cities from a comfortable home base become more attractive to current and future customers. Prior to acquiring the company, we identified domestic holiday making as a growing area of consumer demand in many western countries, particularly those with ageing populations. An investment in A-ROSA gave us the opportunity to reflect that thesis work, as well as deploy capital in a strong German macro environment and a sub-sector of the holiday industry proven to be non-cyclical. We designed a process that allowed us nine months of due diligence, business planning and deal structuring to provide high levels of comfort on valuation. This work also enabled the company to access new funding and unlock the growth potential to take A-ROSA to the next level. The value creation story is to increase the speed of fleet deployment, introduce additional routes, deepen penetration of international customers and further product development.