Fri, June 30, 2017

Enterprise Investors exits Novaturas

Vilnius, 30 June 2017 – Polish Enterprise Fund VI (PEF VI), a private equity fund managed by Enterprise Investors, has signed an agreement to sell Novaturas, the leading tour operator in the Baltic region. The buyer, Itaka Holdings, is the largest travel company in Poland and the top tour operator in Central and Eastern Europe.
• The value of the potential transaction has not been disclosed;
• The transaction is conditional upon obtaining antimonopoly approval in Lithuania.
In 2007 PEF VI paid EUR 40 million for a 71% stake in Novaturas, investing in the company’s further growth. Today Novaturas is the leading travel operator in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Its reliability and reputation, coupled with the Baltic States’ good macroeconomic position and growing consumption, have helped Novaturas become the number one market player in the region. The company offers a wide range of products including package holidays, sightseeing tours and skiing trips. Its diversified destination portfolio covers all trending holiday spots such as Turkey, Spain, Canary Islands and Greece, as well as winter retreats in Italy and France. In 2016 Novaturas generated EUR 102 million in revenues.
Itaka is the unquestioned leader on the Polish travel market and the largest tour operator in Central and Eastern Europe. In its 28 years of operation the company has often led the way by introducing innovative products on Poland’s developing foreign travel market. Itaka’s leading position on the Polish market is confirmed by the company’s 2016 results – turnover of PLN 1.815 billion, consolidated gross profit of PLN 64 million and 637,000 customers served. Itaka has a chain of 170 travel agencies in Poland and 3 abroad as well as more than 1,000 agent outlets.
Enterprise Investors is one of the largest private equity firms in Central and Eastern Europe. Active since 1990, the firm has raised eight funds with total capital exceeding EUR 2 billion. These funds have invested EUR 1.7 billion in 137 companies across a range of sectors and exited 123 companies with total gross proceeds of EUR 3.4 billion.