Travelocity's European Joint Venture Acquires German Online Travel Site travelchannel.de
April 01 2004 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Travelocity's European Joint Venture Acquires German Online Travel
Site travelchannel.de Travelocity Europe's Position in Germany to
Greatly Expand SOUTHLAKE, Texas, April 1 /PRNewswire/ --
Travelocity(R) today announced that Travelocity Europe, its joint
venture with Otto Freizeit und Touristik (OFT), will acquire
travelchannel.de ( http://www.travelchannel.de/ ), a leading German
online travel site, subject to the approval of European regulatory
authorities. With the acquisition, Travelocity Europe broadens its
distribution in Germany while simultaneously expanding its overall
position in Europe. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Travelocity's expansion in Europe is a high priority for us and
the acquisition of travelchannel.de will play a key role in
accelerating our growth in Germany and beyond," said Michelle
Peluso, president and CEO, Travelocity. "They have a strong team,
and we look forward to having them join Travelocity Europe."
"Travelchannel.de is one of the most successful German travel
portals," said Dirk Hauke, CEO of Travelocity Europe. "We have a
tremendous opportunity to make use of its significant synergies and
benefit from the strength of each of the companies in order to
enlarge our range of products and service. Travelchannel.de expands
the spectrum of Travelocity Europe not only with its extensive
range of all-inclusive tours, but also with its large editorial
content, which will help our customers to plan and book their
journeys." Travelchannel Ltd, headquartered in Hamburg, was founded
by the print and publishing house Gruner + Jahr in 1999. In 2000,
OFT purchased a 50 percent stake in the company and purchased the
remaining shares in 2003. The company will now exist under the
Travelocity Europe umbrella. About Travelocity Travelocity(R), with
41 million registered users, booked nearly $4 billion of travel in
2003. Every day Travelocity negotiates thousands of great travel
deals with the world's most reputable airlines, hotels, car rental
companies, cruise lines, ground transportation providers, and
popular destination attractions such as theme parks, ski resorts
and theaters. Additionally, Travelocity offers access to special
rates for weekend getaways and dynamic packages through its Last
Minute Deals and TotalTrip(SM) shopping engines, and provides
customer service support over the phone 24 hours a day.
Travelocity's industry-leading technology and wealth of
straight-talking, honest information allows travelers to make
informed decisions and have more rewarding travel experiences.
Through Travelocity Business(SM), companies can better manage
business travel, lowering costs and expanding options for
travelers, while the Travelocity Partner Network(SM) further
distributes Travelocity's products through an array of channels.
Based in Southlake, Texas, Travelocity also powers international
travel Web sites in seven languages and has been recognized
worldwide for its consumer advocacy and global leadership in online
travel. More information about Travelocity is available at
http://www.travelocity.com/ . Travelocity is owned by Sabre
Holdings Corporation (NYSE:TSG), a world leader in travel commerce.
More information about Sabre Holdings is available at
http://www.sabre-holdings.com/ . About Otto Freizeit und Touristik:
The holding company Otto Freizeit und Touristik GmbH (OFT) includes
all tourism-related subsidiaries of the Otto Group. With its
combination of retail stores, call center, direct marketing and
online presence, OFT is one of the leaders in multi-channel travel
distribution. OFT forms part of the Otto Group, which is operating
through some 90 trading companies in 21 countries in Europe,
America and Asia. In addition, the group is involved in numerous
trade-related service activities. In the financial year 2002, more
than 65,000 employees achieved a turnover of 19.2 billion EUR.
Today, Otto is the largest mail order group in the world. The Otto
Group is the world's number two in online trade, second only to
Amazon. Global corporate activities and a variety of strategic
partnerships and joint ventures provide Otto with excellent
opportunities to transfer know- how and to use the synergy
potential available. Statements in this release which are not
purely historical facts, including statements about the potential
benefits to Travelocity Europe of the acquisition described herein
or other statements about anticipations, beliefs, expectations,
hopes, intentions or strategies for the future, may be forward-
looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the United
States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. All forward-looking statements are based upon
information available to Sabre Holdings Corporation on the date
this release was issued. Sabre Holdings Corporation undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ
materially from the events or results described in the
forward-looking statements, including risks or uncertainties
related to: Sabre Holdings Corporation's revenues being highly
dependent on the travel and transportation industries; geopolitical
developments; and the integration of the acquired company. Sabre
Holdings Corporation may not succeed in addressing these and other
risks. Further information regarding factors that could affect our
financial and other results can be found in the risk factors
section of Sabre Holdings Corporation's most recent filing on Form
10-K with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Judy Haveson () 212/554-7425 Mary Kate Smither ()
972/488-4790
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040325/DATH004LOGO-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040325/DATH004LOGO-b
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Travelocity CONTACT: Judy
Haveson, +1-212-554-7425, or , or Mary Kate Smither,
+1-972-488-4790, or , both for Travelocity Web site:
http://www.travelocity.com/ http://www.travelchannel.de/
http://www.sabre-holdings.com/
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