Travelstart has announced it is set to wholly acquire the Club Travel Group, a South African travel company. The acquisition will boost Travelstart’s offering by adding Club Travel’s established complementary corporate and franchise divisions, creating a formidable full-service African travel group.
Philip Akesson, Country Manager, Travelstart Nigeria said: ”The investment – coupled with the Club Travel acquisition – strengthens our overall group and will, as a result, help us continue to accelerate our growth in Nigeria”.
With the acquisition, both companies enter a co-operation which will enable the former to expand its business and reach new customers, and the latter to gain the expertise to deliver digital product innovation and remain competitive.
Club Travel will continue as a standalone company within the Travelstart portfolio. Thebe Tourism Holdings (Thebe), the majority shareholder of the Club Travel Group since 2009, will sell its stake in the Club Travel Group to Travelstart. Thebe and Travelstart will jointly invest in and own Club Travel Corporate.
“The deal is a response to the changes in travel in Southern Africa as a consumer and corporate travel markets increasingly favour technology-driven solutions. We are excited to partner up with the team from Travelstart,” said Jerry Mabena, CEO at Thebe Tourism, in the same statement.
The Travel Company was founded in Sweden by Swedish born Ekbergh in 1999 before setting up in South Africa in 2006. The closing of the deal is subject to the approval of the Competition Commission of South Africa.
This move follows MTN’s divestment in Travelstart and selling its interests in the company to HarbourVest, a global private equity firm.
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