Hotelbeds Group, Tourico Holidays tie-up for larger footprint in India

Global bedbank and business-to-business provider of services to the travel industry Hotelbeds Group on Thursday announced its merger with Bedbank business unit to strengthen its footprint in the Indian market

"With the backing of Cinven and CPPIB we are entering the next phase of our development since becoming an independent company back in September. Therefore it gives me great pleasure to announce that Tourico Holidays will join Hotelbeds Group. Tourico Holidays has a well-deserved reputation for excellence and innovation that I have respected for many years. I look forward to working with its experienced leadership team," said Executive Chairman of Hotelbeds Group, Joan Vila.

"The proposed deal will enable us to enhance our footprint, especially in Tourico Holidays' home market of North America whilst they will benefit from belonging to Hotelbeds Group's global network. Together we will combine our best in class technology and distribution expertise for the benefit of both our hotel partners and clients. For the time being, both businesses will continue as usual, focusing on our top priority: providing the best possible service to our hotel partners and clients," added Joan Vila.

"We are very excited about what this deal can mean to the B2B travel industry. Tourico Holidays' management team looks forward to bringing together these two great businesses in order to better serve our combined supplier and client base. At a cultural level, this deal is strong because our two organisations are both entrepreneurial, dynamic and high energy and just like Hotelbeds Group, we're passionate about what we do and focus hard on execution," said Tourico Holidays' CEO, Uri Argov.

Tourico Holidays will continue to operate as an independent business while a long term strategy is developed to find the most appropriate way to combine the businesses. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and anti-trust approvals.