News24 | LekkeSlaap sold to group that includes Investec, FirstRand founders

LekkeSlaap has managed accommodation bookings for more than nine million guests since 2013.

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A consortium including Investec and the family offices of legendary bankers GT Ferreira and Laurie Dippenaar has bought popular online accommodation platform LekkeSlaap.

LekkeSlaap co-founders Jonathan Womersley and Marcel van de Ghinste have sold out for an undisclosed amount, but CEO Frans Joubert and the existing executive team will stay on with the group.

Tech entrepreneurs Womersley and Van de Ghinste first launched an online booking platform in a garage in 2009, before rebranding it to LekkeSlaap in 2013.

Since then, the site has managed the accommodation bookings for more than nine million guests. It currently has 40 000 properties listed on the platform.

Janic Capital, which is the Dippenaar family’s investment vehicle, led by Laurie’s son Adriaan Dippenaar, has invested alongside the Ferreira Family Office, Investec and the Moolman Family Office, which is the family investment vehicle of well-known property developers, the Moolman Group.

GT Ferreira and Laurie Dippenaar were co-founders of FirstRand and Rand Merchant Bank.

Private equity firm Bellair Road Investment Partners, which owns stakes in Montego Pet Nutrition and Freedom of Movement, and Janic Capital are the main investors, LekkeSlaap said.

Former RMB CEO and current OUTsurance chairman Herman Bosman will be the new chairman of LekkeSlaap, while Robert Paddock, who co-founded online education company GetSmarter, has been appointed to the board. Both men have invested in LekkeSlaap alongside the new investors.

“We genuinely believe we have found the right long-term owners for LekkeSlaap, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what the management team and the new owners build from here,” Womersley said in a statement.

Joubert said LekkeSlaap planned to expand further across southern Africa, investing “more deeply in technology and localisation, and create even better experiences for our guests and hosts”.