The British are stirring up the Hotelplan deal

Is that it for Hometogo? The Luxembourg holiday home agent, previously considered a top contender alongside the Dertour Group for acquiring the Hotelplan Group, now appears to be out of the race. Interest in Interhome, the holiday home agent of Migros‘ travel subsidiary, was originally made public via a stock exchange announcement. But as «Blick» reports, a new name is now emerging: Awaze. The company, based in the British town of Lowestoft, is active in 36 countries and is one of the largest holiday home agents in Europe.

What is particularly exciting is that Awaze is part of Platinum Equity, a private equity firm that acquired the holiday home business of Wyndham Worldwide in 2018 for a whopping $1.3 billion (almost CHF 1.2 billion) and renamed it Awaze. Since then, the company has significantly expanded its portfolio through clever growth strategies – and has plenty of capital available for further acquisitions.

The British connection could explain the turnaround. Migros initially planned to announce the new owner of the Hotelplan Group by the end of 2024, but no announcement was made. Migros CEO Mario Irminger spoke of necessary regulatory reviews – and also mentioned the UK.

The fact that Awaze is now being considered as a potential buyer supports the assumption that Interhome could be sold separately from the rest of the Hotelplan Group. This would mean that Awaze would take over the profitable holiday home business, while the remaining tour operator business could go to another interested party such as Dertour.