On December 16, HomeToGo signed binding documents to acquire KMW Reisen GmbH and Super Urlaub GmbH. As a result of the transaction, HomeToGo will hold a 51% majority stake in the combined business. This deal unites the world`s largest vacation rental marketplace with the Kurz Mal Weg and Kurzurlaub brands, the DACH region’s leading providers of thematic travel bundled with hotel offerings for short trips.
KMW Reisen GmbH (“KMW”) operates kurz-mal-weg.de, the leading online marketplaces for short trips inside the GSA region. Founded in 2001, this online pioneer has leveraged its technical expertise and comprehensive knowledge of the tour operator business to expand its portfolio—today comprising more than 19,000 offerings. KMW has offices in Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main, and Hamburg.
Super Urlaub GmbH (“Kurzurlaub”) has grown to become one of the foremost specialists for short trips in and around Germany. Its 30,000 fairly priced bookable bundles include city breaks, wellness trips and seaside vacations, with numerous extras available to round off each personal thematic stay. Founded in 2005, Kurzurlaub now has 70 employees across Schwerin, Berlin and Vienna.
HomeToGo was founded in 2014 with a vision to make incredible homes easily accessible to everyone. Growing ever since, the listed Berlin-based company has become the SaaS-enabled marketplace with the world’s largest selection of vacation rentals (15M+ offers). HomeToGo SE is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the stock ticker “HTG”.
The deal enables HomeToGo to further strengthen its worldwide leading marketplace on both the demand and supply sides. Kurz Mal Weg and Kurzurlaub’s thematic travel bundled with hotels for short trips are especially popular in the shoulder seasons. This complements HomeToGo’s existing strong high season demand and introduces up- and cross-selling opportunities all year round.
The Kurzurlaub and Kurz Mal Weg offices and teams will remain operationally independent from HomeToGo and the existing management teams will stay in place.
“We are very excited to join forces with two leaders in the highly attractive market for short-trip thematic travel with hotel stays. Together, we’ll be even more effective at targeting our combined travelers to drive high retention and further enhance HomeToGo’s profitable repeat business.” – Dr. Patrick Andrae, co-founder & CEO, HomeToGo
“In collaboration with Kurz Mal Weg and HomeToGo, we will continue our strong growth and enable existing and additional accommodation partners, hotels and activity providers to address an even bigger audience.” – David Wagner, CEO, Kurzurlaub
“The Carlsquare team helped us develop an equity story that excited the interest of leading investors. Mark Miller’s outstanding network then ensured that we were able to find the right partner at an attractive valuation and in an equitable transaction structure. Since we’re in the tourism industry, we would sum up our opinion of Carlsquare’s services as “*****: Heartily recommend!” – Jan Seifried, CEO, Kurz Mal Weg
Carlsquare acted as the exclusive financial advisor to KMW Reisen GmbH and Super Urlaub GmbH.
