Ironbridge, a leading independent Australian private equity manager, today announced that its principal investment in the tourism and leisure sector, ACB Holdings, is set to expand via a merger with the 'base Backpackers' business. The merger will enable New Zealand based ACB to expand into Australia with the combined businesses owning the largest network of privately owned hostels in Australasia.

Ironbridge acquired ACB Holdings (which trades as 'Beyond Backpackers') in June 2004 for NZ$50 million. Beyond Backpackers manages over 1,200 beds across four complexes situated in downtown Auckland, Queenstown, Paihia and Rotorua.

'base Backpackers' is an industry leader in Australia and New Zealand, being named one of the worlds top 10 'Hip Hostels' in the most recent Lonely Planet.

Following the merger, the combined businesses will operate under the 'base Backpackers' brand name and manage over 3000 beds, 10 bars and 34 travel outlets in Australia and New Zealand.

Neil Broekhuizen, Managing Partner of Ironbridge said: "As a private equity investment manager, we are attracted to quality operations and businesses in the tourism and leisure sector. ACB and 'base Backpackers' entirely fit this profile. We look forward to working with the businesses and exploring further expansion opportunities initially in Australia and potentially elsewhere."

Contacts:

Neil Broekhuizen
Managing Partner
Ironbridge
+61 408 663 451

Justin Kirkwood
Kirkwoods Corporate Relations
+61 2 9231 5600

Ironbridge
Ironbridge is a leading independent Australian private equity manager, managing funds in excess of A$450 million on behalf of Australian and international institutional investors. Ironbridge is focused on investments in medium to large sized management buyout and expansion capital transactions in Australia and New Zealand.