McVicker Investment Group purchases Australian OTA.
Bestjet Travel has just confirmed it has been fully acquired by Queensland-based McVicker Investment Group.
Father and son business duo Robert McVicker Senior and Robert McVicker Junior said the acquisition of the online travel agent was a strategic move, with Bestjet providing an “unparalleled platform…to take the business to a new level as well as complementing its global operations”.
Bestjet Managing Director Rachel James said the deal was the natural next step for the company.
“In such a fast-paced industry where travel offerings change so rapidly, it’s important that Bestjet continues to grow and meet customer demand for products across all segments within the travel industry,” she said.
The Bestjet Travel Group incorporates Bestjet in Australia and Singapore, as well as Brooklyn Travel Pty Ltd and Wynyard Travel Pty Ltd, currently headed up by David Lanning.
The McVicker family formerly owned Morris Corporation, a major supplier of catering, facilities management and maintenance services to resources operations in remote locations, which was acquired by French multinational Sodexo in late 2017.
Bestjet is not currently part of the AFTA Travel Accreditation Scheme (ATAS), and in 2016 was part of an extended legal stoush with AFTA over the company’s failure to satisfy the “fit and proper person” requirements of s2.5(d) of the ATAS charter.
More details in tomorrow’s issue of Travel Daily.