Mid-market private-equity group Duke Street has agreed to buy the German upmarket river cruise company A-ROSA from Waterland Private Equity. The amount has not been disclosed.

The company has enjoyed a strong following in its German home market and more recently gained traction in the UK. Investors said the acquisition would enable the cruise operator to forge its expansion into new European markets, after what has already been a buoyant few years.

It said: ‘[A-ROSA] benefited from a growing base of affluent older consumers, ensuring the river cruise segment performed strongly in the last economic downturn’ and ‘tended to attract repeat bookings’. It added, ‘the river cruise market is expected to benefit further from product development, loyalty-based marketing and a reduction in the average age of cruise holidaymakers’ – something that has been backed by recent trends reports released by both ABTA and CLIA.

Commenting on the A-ROSA investment, Duke Street managing partner Charlie Troup said the cruise company provided an opportunity to back the leader in a growing segment of the European leisure market.

A-ROSA’s chief executive office Jörg Eichler said: “Duke Street moved very quickly in building a solid understanding of our business in a short space of time and have shown real determination to deliver a transaction that allows us to unlock the growth potential to take A-ROSA to the next level. We look forward to working together with the Duke Street team to develop and grow our business over the next years.”

A-ROSA, which offers upmarket river cruises on Europe’s Danube, Rhine, Main, Moselle; Rhône, Saône and Seine rivers, was established in 2001 as a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises and was originally developed as the river cruise complement to AIDA ocean cruises.

Based in the northern German city of Rostock and in Chur, Switzerland, A-ROSA has approximately 600 employees and operates a fleet of 11 vessels. More than 85,000 passengers travelled on board A-ROSA cruises in 2017.

The news comes after capital investment firm Silverfleet Capital bought a majority stake in cruise and escort tour company Riviera Travel, announced in December 2018.