According to a release on BusinessTech, accommodation and hospitality platform LekkeSlaap has been acquired by a consortium of South African investors and its co-founders are exiting the business.
The acquiring consortium is co-led by Bellair Road Investment Partners and Janic Capital, with participation from the Ferreira Family Office, the Moolman Family Office and Investec. Bellair Road Investment Partners describes itself as a long-term growth investor and has previously backed companies such as Montego Pet Nutrition and Econofoods. Janic Capital is the investment vehicle of the Dippenaar family, led by Adriaan Dippenaar. PSG Capital and ENS acted as advisors to the sellers, while Werksmans, Deloitte and Scrums.com advised the buying group.
The announcement says the existing executive management team has invested alongside the new owners and will continue to run the platform. CEO Frans Joubert remains in place, and the board has been expanded with two well-known South African business leaders: Herman Bosman, former CEO of RMB Holdings and current chairman of the OUTsurance Group, and Robert Paddock, co-founder of GetSmarter and Valenture Institute. Bosman and Paddock have also invested in the transaction through their respective vehicles.
For owners of small hotels, guest houses and other accommodation providers, the change in ownership means the platform will stay under South African control while gaining access to fresh capital for technology upgrades and regional expansion. The new investors have signalled ambitions to broaden LekkeSlaap’s footprint across Southern Africa and to deepen localisation of the service. Existing hosts can therefore expect continuity in the commission structure and customer-support standards that have earned the platform a reputation for competitive pricing and high-quality service.
Founded in a garage in 2009, LekkeSlaap launched in 2013 as South Africa’s first Afrikaans-language leisure accommodation booking site. It now operates bilingually, lists more than 40 000 properties, and has served over 9 million guests. The platform has been named South Africa’s Leading Online Travel Agency at the World Travel Awards for three consecutive years. Despite the entry of global player Airbnb in 2015, LekkeSlaap has retained a strong market position by focusing on local pricing, a wide selection of properties and personalised support.
In the broader travel-tech sector, the acquisition reflects a growing appetite among South African investors to back home-grown digital platforms that have proven resilience against international competition. For entrepreneurs in the sector, the deal demonstrates that a strong brand and a loyal user base can attract substantial local capital, even after a decade of operation. The next phase for LekkeSlaap will likely involve investment in mobile-first technology, data-driven pricing tools and deeper integration with regional tourism boards, all of which could create new partnership opportunities for small-scale accommodation owners.
While the co-founders Jonathan Womersley and Marcel van de Ghinste are stepping away, the continuity of the executive team and the addition of seasoned board members suggest that the platform’s strategic direction will remain steady. The transaction keeps the business in South African hands, a point the consortium highlighted as important for future growth.
For SMEs that rely on online bookings, the key takeaway is that LekkeSlaap is set to invest in the technology and localisation that can help smaller properties reach a wider audience without sacrificing the familiar service model that has made the platform popular.
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Bellair Road Investment Partners, which co-leads the deal, has a portfolio that stretches beyond Montego Pet Nutrition and Econofoods to include Freedom of Movement, a logistics firm that recently expanded into Mozambique. The group’s long-term growth focus, as described in the acquisition announcement, means it will likely channel capital into scaling LekkeSlaap’s technology stack and regional footprint, building on the investor’s history of backing companies that diversify across Southern Africa.
Janic Capital brings the Dippenaar family’s financial muscle to the transaction, with Adriaan Dippenaar steering the investment vehicle. The family’s involvement in sectors ranging from retail to renewable energy suggests a strategic interest in integrating LekkeSlaap’s booking platform with broader tourism and hospitality initiatives that the Dippenaar portfolio is already exploring.
The acquisition process followed a typical South African M&A pathway: sellers engaged PSG Capital and ENS for advice, while the buying consortium retained Werksmans, Deloitte and Scrums.com to conduct due diligence, negotiate the sale-and-purchase agreement and secure regulatory clearances. Once the SPA was signed, the parties filed the necessary notices with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, triggering the transfer of shareholdings and the formal exit of the co-founders and long-standing shareholders.
Post-closing, the expanded board, now featuring Herman Bosman and Robert Paddock, will oversee the rollout of new technology investments and the planned Southern African expansion. The executive team’s continued equity stake aligns management incentives with the investors’ growth timeline, while the consortium’s stated ambition to deepen localisation points to upcoming enhancements in language support, payment integration and partnerships with regional tourism boards.
