News

Summit Park has recapitalized New York City-based smarTours, a provider of travel experiences to exotic global destinations. No financial terms were disclosed. Fidus Partners advised smarTours on the transaction.

PRESS RELEASE

Summit Park, a Charlotte-based private investment firm, is pleased to announce the recapitalization of smarTours, LLC (“smarTours” or “the Company”), a leading provider of direct-to-consumer, value-oriented travel experiences to exotic global destinations. The recapitalization of smarTours is in partnership with the Company’s co-CEO’s, Greg Geronemus and David Rosner, who will continue to lead the Company going forward.

Based in New York, NY, over 200,000 travelers have taken a smarTours trip since the founding of the Company in 1996. smarTours offers travelers curated, pre-packaged itineraries to over 40 destinations across the globe. The Company focuses on connecting travelers with experiences that center around the history, people, attractions and local culture of exotic destinations. By offering tours directly to consumers, the Company provides premium-quality experiences at value prices, and as a result, has cultivated a highly passionate and loyal community of repeat travelers.

Bob Calton, co-Founding Partner of Summit Park said, “We are very excited to partner with Greg, David and the smarTours team. We believe Greg and David have done a terrific job of investing in the people and systems necessary to capitalize on an attractive niche of the global travel market. We also think that smarTours is in the early innings of its growth, and our focus will be on significantly increasing the investment in marketing to grow the smarTours brand and continue to build upon its community of highly satisfied travelers.”

Co-CEO’s Geronemus and Rosner added, “We are excited to partner with Summit Park as smarTours enters its next phase of growth. Summit Park has an excellent track record of helping businesses accelerate their growth, and we believe that they can be particularly helpful in enhancing our direct-to-consumer marketing efforts through their network of relationships and expertise. smarTours’ mission is to make high-quality international travel affordable, and we are confident that Summit Park will help us reach many more travelers with our amazing travel experiences.”

The transaction marks Summit Park’s fifth platform investment in its second fund, Summit Park II. Fidus Partners acted as sole advisor to smarTours.

About Summit Park
Summit Park is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based private investment firm focused exclusively on the lower middle market. The firm invests across a range of industries, including business and consumer services, light manufacturing and value-added distribution in the Eastern half of the United States. The firm’s capital can be used to facilitate a change in ownership, to support expansion and growth, to provide partial liquidity to existing owners, or to support an industry consolidation plan. For more information, visit www.summitparkllc.com.