TPG’s parent company buys Lonely Planet in major expansion of travel portfolio
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Major news today in the travel industry and for The Points Guy.
TPG parent company Red Ventures announced Tuesday morning that it is buying the storied travel company Lonely Planet from NC2 Media. Terms of the deal between the two private companies were not disclosed.
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The purchase is a major investment by Red Ventures in another travel brand that will add a ton of incredible destination content, a rich library of guides, digital tools and new ways to research travel for TPG readers and the public at large. It’s also a big expansion of Red Venture’s growing travel portfolio. Lonely Planet is the number one producer of guidebooks in the world.
“While the travel industry is experiencing an unprecedented downturn, we believe it will come back stronger than ever, and no brand represents the magic of the modern explorer better than Lonely Planet,” said Red Ventures co-founder and CEO, Ric Elias.
Lonely Planet is a trusted creator and publisher of print, online and mobile travel resources. It has produced over 150 million travel guidebooks, reaches 186 million people annually, and covers 22,000 destinations around the world.
The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly said, “I couldn’t be more excited about this acquisition. As a student traveler I used their guides to travel cheaply and throughout the years I’ve continued to be inspired by their content and social media. It’s a brand that will work well with TPG as we try to make loyalty and travel more accessible to millions of travelers.”
Lonely Planet has a major catalog of guide books, phrase books and coffee table books. It has a huge contributor network, an incredible history and brand, and brings a wealth of experienced travel writers and editors as well. Lonely Planet shares a core mission with the Points Guy to help people discover the world.
Red Ventures is becoming a major player in the media business with a suite of companies all designed to help inform and educate the public. In October, Red Ventures completed another major media acquisition, buying CNET for $500 million from ViacomCBS.
Red Ventures owns and operates several other large data-driven, multifaceted digital brands including Healthline, The Points Guy, Bankrate, MYMOVE, and Allconnect.com.
The Red Ventures travel portfolio will combine Lonely Planet’s existing premium online and print content with a proprietary data platform and channel expertise to create experiences designed to help more travelers research, book and enjoy their trips.
Red Ventures co-founder and CEO, Ric Elias said, “By joining our travel portfolio, Lonely Planet positions us to revolutionize the consumer journey for travelers, helping more people discover and decide where they’ll go, how they’ll get there, and what to do when they arrive.”
“At Red Ventures we are bringing together the world’s most helpful and trusted brands with a digital marketing platform and methodology that allows us to super-serve the millions of people that use our services every day,” Elias said. “Through seamless experiences and deeper, personalized relationships, we are uniquely equipped to help more people find the information and tools they need to make life’s most important decisions.”
Red Ventures, The Points Guy and Lonely Planet share the belief that travel can be a force for good, and together will aim to enable more travelers to safely and responsibly navigate the world as they venture back into it.
Featured photo by Rui Vieira/PA Images via Getty Images.
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