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AccorHotels has signed an agreement to acquire Gekko, a major player in the business travel hotel reservation segment.
This transaction is in line with the strategy aimed at strengthening AccorHotels’ leadership across the entire customer experience by enhancing the range of services offered to business travellers, the group’s key customer segment.
Thanks to its expertise and cutting-edge technology, Gekko offers search and reservation solutions via an interface connected to more than 500,000 hotels worldwide, ranging from budget to luxury.
Its turnkey management tools allow business travellers to manage their online payments, offering them the option of tracking and optimising their costs.
Gekko today serves more than 300 corporate customers and 14,000 travel agencies through its subsidiaries: HCorpo (key accounts), Teldar Travel (leisure travel agencies), Teldar Travel Biz (SME-focused travel agencies), Miles Attack (loyalty program) and Infinite Hotel (wholesaler serving independent French hotels).
The company operates in France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
Founded in 2010, Gekko is managed by Olivier Delouis and Stéphane de Laforcade.
They introduced HLD, a European investment fund, as their reference shareholder in 2015.
The transaction, which values Gekko at €100 million, will have an accretive effect on AccorHotels’ financial performance from 2018.
Stephane de Laforcade and Olivier Delouis will remain at the head of Gekko and will continue to run the group independently.
Thibault Viort, chief disruption and growth officer, AccorHotels, stated: “We are very pleased to have Gekko’s team join our group.
“AccorHotels’ extensive global footprint, together with Gekko’s technological leadership, today paves the way for the creation of a global leader in business-to-business hotel distribution.
“Since business travellers represent a key segment in the group’s business, our capacity to respond to the specific requirements of this segment across the entire value chain is a factor that really sets us apart.”
The transaction is subject to approval of competition authorities and has already been approved by AccorHotels’ employee representative bodies.
Stéphane de Laforcade and Olivier Delouis, co-founders and executives of Gekko, said: “Teaming up with AccorHotels during such an important time for our company creates new opportunities for growth.
“We are fully aligned on our business-to-business distribution strategy, and AccorHotels’ strong brand and reputation will provide us with additional resources and greater legitimacy in key international markets.”
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