STA Travel CEO clears up sale rumours

STA Travel chief executive, Dick Porter has told TravelMole that selling the business is just one option the owners are considering under a current strategic review. STA has hired the investment bank UBS, which is the bank used by its owners, to investigate a number of options for the company. “Opportunities go from co-operation to partnership to ownership. We carry out strategic reviews on a regular basis, and the last one was five years ago.” According to press reports UBS has approached companies like First Choice, lastminute.com and ebookers. Mr Porter said he couldn’t name specific firms but said most large travel companies would have been contacted. He said the price quoted in the article for STA, of £66 million was inaccurate. “If I could buy it for that price I would, it’s a cheap price” he said. Mr Porter also criticised the headline of an article appearing in the national press. He told TravelMole: “The headline [Student travel firm sells up] was particularly angled.” STA has been owned by a Swiss marketing and travel services group called Diethelm Keller Group for 25 years. Commenting on the owners Mr Porter said: “My anticipation is that the owners will take a long time to make any decisions, they act in a measured way.” Report by Ginny McGrath