*UPDATED on June 23, 2015 with comments from Thomas Stirnimann, CEO of Hotelplan
AS SPECULATED, Der Touristik, the travel division of Rewe Group, is acquiring all the tour operators, specialists and travel agencies run by Kuoni Group’s units in Switzerland, the UK, Scandinavia/Finland and Benelux.
The Kuoni Group announced this today in a statement highlighting that the Kuoni, Apollo and specialist brands will remain in the market. Employees – some 2,350 – and offices are being taken over and business activities continue as usual.
The two parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price or contract details. The acquisition is subject to the approval by the relevant competition authorities in the EU and Switzerland. The transaction is expected to complete in the 3Q2015.
In 2014, the European tour operating activities that have been acquired generated turnover of around two billion Swiss francs (US$2.2 billion).
“With this acquisition Der Touristik is positioning itself as a leading pan-European travel company. Der Touristik sees the acquisition as an ideal addition to its sales operation, giving it new competitive advantages in the beach holiday business as well as in international purchasing of flight, hotel and other customer services,” said the Kuoni statement.
Tour operating activities will continue to trade under their existing brands. Rewe Group is acquiring the right to use the Kuoni brand in Switzerland and the UK, while Kuoni Group remains the owner of the Kuoni brand. Rewe Group is taking full ownership of the Apollo brand in Scandinavia/Finland and of all the specialist brands.
Kuoni intends to complete its search for a buyer for the remaining tour operating activities in India and Hong Kong/China during the course of 2015.
Rewe and Hotelplan Switzerland were two concrete buyers Kuoni Group had for its European businesses. The sale conclusion was faster than expected (see View From the Top with Kuoni Group CEO, Peter Meier, TTG Asia, May 15, 2015).
Contacted by TTG Asia e-Daily, Thomas Stirnimann, CEO of Hotelplan, said: “Well, we regret, that Kuoni has been sold to a foreign company, but we were only interested to take over Kuoni Switzerland and obviously the package deal was more appealing.”
He did not foresee a bigger competition with a Kuoni Switzerland under Rewe. “All German operators are already present including Rewe and, I might add, that we are all competitive and will be,” he said.
