Swiss Hotelplan Group acquires tour operator vtours

With a team led by Dr. Jörg aus der Fünten, Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek advised the shareholders of vtours on the sale to Hotelplan Group. vtours GmbH in Aschaffenburg and vtours international AG in Switzerland will continue to operate independently. The parties agreed not to disclose the acquisition price. The transaction closed on November 12, 2019.
 
The merger enables vtours to expand not only in Germany/Austria/Switzerland, but also throughout Europe and to benefit from joint technological know-how. All of the about 150 employees in Germany and Switzerland will be taken over. The office in Aschaffenburg will be retained while the offices in Glattbrugg, Switzerland, will be integrated into Hotelplan Group’s headquarters.
 
Founded in 2004, vtours GmbH is one of the leading dynamic tour operators in the German-speaking region. Swiss vtours international AG was founded in 2015 and is a sister company of vtours GmbH. vtours offers package, city, and country tours. The tour operator’s portfolio comprises more than 7,000 hotels in 195 destinations worldwide. Its travel offerings are sold via stationary travel agencies, web portals, and the company's website. Annual total revenue of vtours tour operators is in excess of EUR 400 million.

Counsel to vtours
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek:
Dr. Jörg aus der Fünten (Lead, Corporate/M&A), Cologne
Dr. Marc Scheunemann, LL.M. (Tax), Düsseldorf
Dr. Rainer Velte (Antitrust), Düsseldorf
Stefan Westerheide, LL.M. oec (Corporate/M&A), Cologne
Beatrice Stange, LL.M. (Antitrust), Düsseldorf
Prof. Dr. Martin Reufels (Employment), Cologne