Polish fund MCI bought Czech online travel leader Invia.cz
As various Czech and Polish sources reports, polish venture fund MCI investment, who already possesses several shares among Czech companies (read more in this older spot), bought 50,11% shares of Invia.cz, largest Czech online travel retailer. Invia sold travel services for over than 50 mil. euro in 2007 with profit of 400 000 euro, which gives them largest market share in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Invia is active also in Hungary and Romania.
MCI owns similar market leader in Poland at the moment, Travelplanet.pl. As press release announces, they haven’t plans to join their activities in the near future, but with two market leaders on board there is a clear aim to build the strongest online travel retailer in the region with expected sales of 250 mil. euro a year.
Travelplanet.pl is already listed on Warsaw stock exchange (WGP) and MCI plans to make an IPO of Invia.cz over there in 2009. At this moment, next to MCI former three founders of Invia and Swiss VC fund Centralway possesses the rest of the shares.
Price for the majority hasn’t been disclosed, but it was confirmed that is above 2,9 mil. euro, according to Ondrej Bartos, Czech investment director of MCI. One of the Invia founders Radek Stavinoha told Lupa.cz in the interview last June that owners ask about 8 mil. euro for the whole company. This sets the price somewhere between 3 and 8 mil. euro, which is quite a large range, but most probably they got no more than 4 mil. euro.
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