TUI’s Hotelbeds to attract bids from HNA, Expedia, Priceline and PEs
Hotelbeds, the Spanish subsidiary of German travel group TUI [LON:TUI], is expected to attract first round bids from a number of US and China-based strategic players, including HNA International Investment Holdings [HKG:0521], Expedia [NASDAQ: EXPE] and booking.com’s owner Priceline [NASDAQ:PCLN], two sources familiar with the situation said.
A number of sponsors including EQT are also looking to get involved in the bidding process, both sources said. Cinven and Carlyle are also in the fray, the first source said. EQT, which agreed to acquire Swiss tour operator Kuoni for GBP 850m (EUR 1.11bn) in January, is reportedly planning to merge it with Hotelbeds.
Other Chinese players, including Fosun International [HKG:0656] and Ctrip [NASDAQ: CTRP] are also interested in Hotelbeds, the second source added.
Bids are expected after the Easter break, the first source said, adding TUI already received expressions of interest at the beginning of the month.
HNA, Fosun, Expedia and Priceline did not reply to emails and calls seeking comment. Ctrip, EQT and Cinven declined to comment.
TUI and Carlyle did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The vendor is expecting a valuation in the double digits EBITDA multiple, the first source said. Hotelbeds reported EUR 117m in earnings before interest and tax in the FY to September 2015. It could fetch between EUR 750m and EUR 1bn, press reports said.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank are providing sellside advice, as reported.
TUI, which has a market capitalization of EUR 7.5bn, is one of the world’s largest tourism business. It owns 1,800 travel agencies and leading online portals, six airlines with more than 130 aircraft, over 300 hotels with 210,000 beds, and 13 cruise liners in major holiday destinations around the globe.