Blake Mason.

Skydive Wanaka Ltd has signed a conditional agreement to sell its business to Australian-owned Skydive The Beach Group for $10.4million.

The price represents a multiple of 4.5 times Skydive Wanaka's 2016 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda).

Skydive The Beach Group started in Wollongong in 1999, and in 2015 conducted 61,069 tandem skydives at 16 drop zones.

It describes itself as Australia and New Zealand's "leading skydiving adventure tourism company'' and the largest tandem skydiving operation in the southern hemisphere.

The company, newly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, recorded revenue of $26.3million and ebitda of $6million in 2015, and has a market capitalisation of $A172.7million.

In its press release yesterday, it noted Skydive Wanaka had a compound average growth rate in tandem skydives of 24% over 2 years, and conducted 14,511 in 2016.

Skydive Wanaka has been owned by Wanaka residents Lloyd and Julie Ferguson for just less than three years, and managing director Blake Mason said yesterday it had shown growth of around 38% in that time.

He welcomed the new owners and an assurance "all jobs and business will remain the same''.

He considered the sale was a great opportunity for the region "as we expect to become busier than ever before, working in conjunction with the companies based in Queenstown and Glenorchy''.

Skydive Wanaka was established in 1995, and has completed more than 100,000 tandem jumps.

It has 45 employees, its own aircraft, long-term airfield and hangar leases and no debt.

Skydive The Beach Group chief executive Anthony Boucaut said yesterday the Skydive Wanaka acquisition strengthened its position in the New Zealand market.

"It adds more international assets as part of our goal to become the leading global adventure tourism company.''

Chief financial officer Anthony Ritter, said the acquisition would "turbo-boost'' its New Zealand operations.

Skydive the Beach Group bought the Skydive Queenstown Group in October last year.

It is expected the Wanaka operation would provide skydiving opportunities on days when the weather was unsuitable in Queenstown.

The purchase was funded through a $A15million institutional placement to "sophisticated and institutional investors''.

In addition to the Skydive Wanaka business, $A2.4million would be used for a new aircraft and $A1.1million for three buses to transport customers between Queenstown and Wanaka.

Skydive The Beach Group expects revenue of $54.9million and ebitda of $13.5million in 2016, "provided weather conditions remain normal and estimated jumps are completed''.

The purchase is expected to be completed on July 1 if due diligence is satisfactory.

mark.price@odt.co.nz