A cross-border team from Baker McKenzie advised the DERTOUR Group on its acquisition of the Hotelplan Group, with the exception of Interhome from Migros. The DERTOUR Group is thereby strengthening its presence as a travel group in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Germany. The long-established brands of the Hotelplan Group, an international travel group specializing in leisure and business travel, will consistently further strengthen the tourism diversity and expertise of the DERTOUR Group. The acquisition includes four of the five business units of the Hotelplan Group. However, the holiday home specialist, Interhome, which is being taken over by the HomeToGo Group, is excluded.
The takeover will occur as soon as possible, subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the transaction.
The DERTOUR Group, based in Cologne, Germany, is an internationally renowned travel group, employing over 10,000 people across 16 markets. It includes brands like DERTOUR, ITS, Meiers Weltreisen and Kuoni, among others, and underholds over 2,000 travel agencies and a presence in 31 travel destinations. It belongs to the German retail group REWE Group.
The Hotelplan Group, headquartered in Glattbrugg, Switzerland, specializes in leisure and business travel. Employing about 2,500 people across 238 locations, it generated CHF 1.78 billion in 2024.
The group's business units include Switzerland's largest tour operator, Hotelplan Suisse, with the travelhouse and tourisme pour tous brands, and the Volume Tour Operating division, which includes the beach holiday and city break business with the Hotelplan, Migros Ferien and vtours brands. In Great Britain, the group is represented by Hotelplan UK, one of Britain's major skiing and walking holiday specialists, with the Inghams, Inntravel, Santa's Lapland and Explore Worldwide brands. Interhome, one of Europe's leading rental holiday home providers, and the business travel specialists, bta first travel and Finass Reisen, also belong to the Hotelplan Group portfolio.
Baker McKenzie advised on the legal and tax matters of this transaction.
The team was led by M&A and Corporate Partner Manuel Meyer and consisted of the following lawyers:
Zurich
Corporate and M&A:
Christophe Reitze, Jasmin Morell, Benedikt Rutscheidt, Raphael Schneuwly (associates)
Employment & Compensation:
Christoph Stutz (partner)
IP:
Nadine Charriere (associate)
Regulatory:
Boris Wenger (partner), Meera Rolaz (associate)
Tax:
Susanne Liebel-Kotz (partner)
Düsseldorf and Munich
Corporate and M&A:
Jon Marcus Meese (partner), Eva Kriechbaumer (associate)
Regulatory:
Nicolas Kredel (partner), Florian Kotman, Markus Mossmann, Lukas Greiner (associates)
London
Employment & Compensation:
Jonathan Sharp (partner), Mark Solomon (associate)
Regulatory:
Luis Gomez (partner), Floris Dierickx (associate)
Vienna
Regulatory:
Andreas Traugott (partner), Anita Lukaschek (of counsel)
Brussels
Regulatory:
Bram Hoorelbeke (of counsel)