Hotelplan, the owner of several UK travel brands including Inghams and Santa’s Lapland, is to be sold by its Swiss parent.

The Migros Group said it wanted to ‘divest companies that no longer fit the Group strategy’.

Instead, it is investing in its core business of retail, financial services and health.

In a statement, it said that a strategic review of its business had led it to conclude that ‘Migros is no longer always the appropriate owner going forward and that individual subsidiaries will have better prospects of success outside Migros’.

It said it is looking for ‘suitable buyers carefully’ for Hotelplan, adding: “The divestment processes will not change anything for customers and business partners. All business continues to run reliably as before.”

Hotelplan is the largest travel business in Switzerland. In addition to owning Inghams and Santa’s Lapland, it also owns Esprit, Inntravel and Explore Worldwide in the UK.

“We are specifically seeking new owners who have a strong foundation for successfully developing the companies further”, added President of the FMC Executive Board Mario Irminger.