Egyptian Travco Group buys Steigenberger
( words)
2009 08 20/ Andreas Augustin
The battle is over: Travco Group from Egypt and Grupo Iberostar from Spain were both trying to get the main share of Germany's traditonal hotel group, Steigenberger. The Steigenberger family headed by Anne-Marie Steigenberger, the founder's wife, and her daughters Christine Steigenberger, Claudia Steigenberger and Bettina Leitgeb, has sold 99.6 percent retaining only three hotel properties: the good old flagship of the group Frankfurter Hof in Frankfurt (A Select Member of The Most Famous Hotels in the World), the Steigenberger Airport Hotel and the Hotel Belvedere in Davos, Switzerland.
On Friday 20 August Travco Group International Holding S.A.E. headquartered in Cairo, got the deal. It is Egypt’s leading tourist conglomerate, owner of a fleet of Nile ships and three hotel brands with 43 hotels, took over the entire 99.6 percent share of the Steigenberger family. The agreement is valid from today. In terms of scope, the deal is comparable to the sale of 54 Astron Hotels to NH from Spain in 2002.
Travco
Group is backed by Egypt’s leading integrated travel and leisure group,
which generated 0.6 billion euros of consolidated turnover last year.
In 1979, the conglomerate was founded by Hamed El Chiaty, an Arabian
businessman who is both Chairman and CEO.
Travco has a well-developed network in
Germany: Together with TUI, he shares a company for Iberotel Egypt, in
which both parties hold 50 percent. In addition, El Chiaty holds 3.01%
of TUI AG. However, TUI is not involved in the current Steigenberger
deal. Hamed El Chiaty is expected to possess the financial power to bring the currently weak Steigenberger back to its traditional grandeur. He acquired the contracts, the
brands and the management. In the recent past the company had sold some of its signature hotels such as the Badischer Hof in Baden-Baden and Duisburger Hof
in Duisburg as well as the
Steigenberger Bad Axelmannstein in Bad Reichenhall.
TRAVCO GROUP
Founded in 1979, the company counts 16,000
employess today working in more than 60 companies forming Egypt's
leading travel and leisure group. In 2008, Travco Group companies
handled more than 1.3 million tourist arrivals into Egypt (www.travco.com).
Founder and CEO: Hamed El Chiaty.
Consolidated revenues 2008: 4.8 billion EGP (about 600 million Euro).
Total Assets in 2008: 10 billion EGP (about 1.2 billion Euro).
Hotels:
43 hotels and resorts plus 9 projects underway (total capacity 10,500
rooms in Egypt, UAE and Maldives. Brands: Jaz, Iberotel, Sol Y Mar.
Cruise Ships: 22 cruise ships on the nile plus 3 ships in the pipeline (total 1,300 cabins).
Buses/Cars: over 1,000 vehicles in operation, e.g. limousines and rental cars.
Other services: aviation ground handling services, airline representations, ticket offices throughout Egypt, land and real estate development.
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