Travel Intelligence and Perfect Escapes parent Travesse has been put into administration after it was unable to pay its creditors.
Andrew Stoneman and Paul Williams of Duff & Phelps are believed to have been appointed joint administrators of the company, whose brands also include The Travel Editor, Spire and Chic Retreats.
An email sent to Travel Editor contributors from boss Amir Azulay says:
The company has not been able to raise further funding to implement its go forward plan and strategy. We, together with the administrators are looking for suitable funders/buyers for the different assets of the company of which the Travel Editor is one.
Travesse acquired Perfect Escapes in March with Azulay saying at the time that the purchase put the company three years ahead on its strategy.
However, a memo on the Duff & Phelps website confirms a luxury travel company and its assets are for sale. The document also says the company is on track to achieve gross sales of $4m this year.
Travesse said in May that it planned to invest $1.3m into the Starfish booking engine which was also part of the acquisition of Perfect Escapes and other brands.
Competition in the flash deals space is fierce especially with large players such as Groupon and Living Social as well as more long-standing players such as Priceline getting in on the game. Amazon announced its own deals service in the UK weeks ago and it's hard to see how so many players can survive.