Online travel company
ebookers.com
announced Thursday its acquisition of two European
travel agencies with combined annual revenues of
$22 million.
The agencies are the sports travel bureau
Rejsegalleriet A/S, based in Denmark, and
the well established Dutch travel agency Reisbureau Nova.
ebookers.com did not say how much it has paid for
each agency, just that the combined cost for both
of them is $2.5 million.
Iain Reid, chief operating officer of ebookers.com,
hailed the double acquisition as another significant
milestone for his company, which has become one of Europe’s
largest online travel agencies.
“Our presence in 10 European countries gives us an
excellent lead in online travel in Europe and gives us
access to a potential 250 million Europeans, a number
close to the 270 million population of the United States.
ebookers.com’s Danish acquisition, Rejsegalleriet A/S,
was part-owned by Brian Laudrup, known throughout Europe
as a football star and midfielder for Ajax Football Club
in Amsterdam. His company has specialized in travel
to sporting events such as Formula One races and major
football matches, and he will remain a director.
Reisbureau Nova, ebookers.com’s Dutch acquisition,
offers a full range of airfares, packages, hotels,
car hire and travel insurance. One of its key offerings
are its special package deals which enable members of
multi-national communities in the Netherlands to visit
their homes overseas.
ebookers.com now operates in Denmark, France, Finland,
Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the
Netherlands and the U.K. It offers discounted airfares
from 72 airlines and from 14,000 hotels worldwide.
