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Journey Beyond

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Journey Beyond
IndustryExperiential tourism
Founded2017
Key people
Chris Tallent, Great Southern Rail CEO (2012-2016) and Journey Beyond Group CEO (2016-)[1]
ServicesTravel
ParentCrestview Partners
Websitewww.journeybeyondrail.com.au

Journey Beyond is the trading name and brand deployed since 2017 by a succession of companies providing experiential tourism in Australia, including luxury trains (The Ghan, the Indian Pacific, and the Great Southern) and The Overland interstate service. "Journey Beyond" is also included in the names of a number of associated companies. The business, headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia, now has interests in cruise and air tourism in addition to rail.

History

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Before the 1990s, the government-owned Australian National Railways Commission, trading as Australian National, was the owner and operator of Australia's interstate railways and freight and passenger trains, operated under a subsidiary known as Pax Rail. From 1996 to 1998, Australian National was broken up and in 1997 its interstate passenger trains — The Ghan, Indian Pacific and The Overland — were sold to Great Southern Rail (GSR), a consortium of GB Railways, Legal & General, Macquarie Bank, RailAmerica, G13 Pty Ltd[2] and Serco, at a book valuation of A$$16 million.[3]

Included in the sale were 186 items of rolling stock, mainly former Commonwealth Railways stainless steel carriages, and the Adelaide Parklands Terminal and Alice Springs railway station.[4] In October 1999, Serco bought the remaining 50.8% of shares from its consortium partners for $18.9 million, becoming the sole owner.[5][6][7] GSR owned the passenger car fleet and provided services, and Pacific National provided the motive power.

Between 2008 and 2012, Great Southern Rail operated The Southern Spirit as a luxury cruising train service offering eight luxury rail cruises on a variety of outback Australian train routes.[8]

In 2015, Serco sold the business to private equity company Allegro Funds[9] for an enterprise value and cash consideration variously reported as "below A$20 million"[10] to "£2.5 million"[11] (about A$4.9 million). Allegro led a transformation of GSR from a transport operator heavily dependent on government subsidies for passenger operations into a profitable experiential travel provider.[citation needed] Sixteen months after their initial purchase, Allegro sold a 70% stake in the company to Quadrant Private Equity for an undisclosed price, but speculated the value of the company at between A$100 million and $200 million.[12][13]

In 2019, Great Southern Rail was re-branded as Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions and Great Southern became the name of a train running between Adelaide and Brisbane, weekly during the summer months.[14][15] Subsequently the brand name reverted to Journey Beyond.[16] In 2017, a private company, Experience Australia Group Pty Ltd, was established as the corporate entity conducting the business's operations. As of 2024, despite the changes in ownership the company was continuing in that role.[17]

Acquisitions since 2015 included Cruise Whitsundays and Rottnest Express, the Eureka Tower Skydeck, Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures, Outback Spirit Tours, Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef and Darwin Harbour Cruises. As of 2022, it was Australia's largest experiential tourism business.[1]

In January 2022, Quadrant Private Equity sold its 13 brands, including the trains, for a reported A$600 million. The buyer was the San Francisco-based Hornblower Group, owned by Crestview Partners, a New York-based private equity firm.[18] Hornblower Group operated cruises and tours, including Hornblower Cruises, which operated from 125 American cities.[19] After failing to find a buyer in 2023, Hornblower filed for bankruptcy in February 2024; Journey Beyond activities were separated from the group and came under sole ownership of Crestview Partners.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Chris Tallent". Linkedin. 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  2. ^ "G13 Pty Ltd". Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Great Southern Railway Consortium completes acquisition of Australian National Railways passenger business" (PDF). Serco. 31 October 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Goodbye AN Passenger, hello Great Southern Railway". Railway Digest. Redfern, NSW: Australian Railway Historical Society. December 1997. p. 7. ISSN 0157-2431.
  5. ^ Davis, Mark (8 October 1999). "Great Southern track takes $19m UK turn". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  6. ^ About Us Archived 9 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine Great Southern Rail
  7. ^ "Serco takes full control of GSR". Railway Digest. Redfern, NSW: Australian Railway Historical Society. January 2000. p. 7. ISSN 0157-2431.
  8. ^ "Great Southern Rail launches new luxury rail cruise The Southern Spirit". 17 June 2008. Archived from the original on 22 July 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  9. ^ Great Southern Rail to be bought by Allegro in high-end tourism push Archived 29 September 2022 at the Wayback Machine ABC News 30 March 2015
  10. ^ Evans, Simon (30 March 2015). "Allegro Funds buys Great Southern Rail from Serco". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Serco to sell Great Southern Rail". Railway Gazette International. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Control of the Indian Pacific, Ghan changes one more time in private equity reshuffle". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 September 2016. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  13. ^ Tim Burroughs (15 September 2016). "Quadrant buys Australia's Great Southern Rail from Allegro". Asian Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Great Southern Rail to launch Adelaide-Brisbane service". InDaily. 20 November 2018. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Great Southern explores new territory". greatsouthernrail.com.au. 25 November 2018. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  16. ^ "About Journey Beyond". Journey Beyond. February 2022. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Historical details for ABN 56 614 713 003". ABN Lookup. Australian Business Register. 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Ghan owner Journey Beyond changes hands for $600m". Financial Review. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2024.Paid subscription required subscription: the source is only accessible via a paid subscription ("paywall").
  19. ^ Allen, Lisa (13 January 2022). "US travel firm makes $600m punt on Journey Beyond". The Australian. Canberra. p. 14. Retrieved 14 January 2022.Paid subscription required subscription: the source is only accessible via a paid subscription ("paywall").
  20. ^ Dorbian, Iris (21 February 2024). "SVP to acquire travel experiences provider Hornblower". PE Hub. Retrieved 22 February 2024.   Free registration required registration: a free registration is required to access the source.
  21. ^ Carter, Bridget (22 February 2024). "PE firms cut asset prices and restructure amid tough market". The Australian. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
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