GED buys travel agency Travel House

Spanish investment fund GED, one of the most active buyers on
the Romanian market, is expanding its travel business, after
acquiring an 80% stake in travel agency Travel House, with 6
million euros in sales and a 110,000-euro net profit last year.

The transaction, conducted via Happy Tour, the biggest travel
agency in Romania, which is held by the fund, comes less than two
weeks after the conclusion of another deal, the acquisition of the
paravion.ro website by GED.
“This transaction is part of Happy Tour’s consolidation
strategy – it aims to become the biggest travel operator in Romania
on corporate, online, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences,
events) and holiday packages,” said Javier Garcia del Valle, CEO of
Happy Tour, with 29 million euros in turnover last year. The value
of the transaction was not made public by the company official.

The transaction is in the process of being approved by the
Competition Council, and will be finalised in the second half of
June. Read an interview with the CEO of Happy Tour in ZF’s Monday
issue.