EDreams ODIGEO

eDreams ODIGEO is a global online travel company that was formed in 2011 with the merger of four online travel agencies including eDreams, GO Voyages, Opodo Travellink^[6] plus the metasearch engine Liligo.com,^[7] which was acquired in 2013. The five brands that make up the group sell flights, hotels, vacation packages (flight + hotel), train tickets, car rentals, and travel insurance to 16 million customers with localized sites across 44 countries worldwide. The company's headquarters are in Barcelona with 15 offices and more than 1,700 employees worldwide.^[8]

The leadership team includes Dana Dunne (Chief Executive Officer), Phillipe Vimard (Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operating Officer) and David Elizaga (Chief Financial Officer).^[9]

The company had a turnover of 4.3 billion Euros in 2014/2015 fiscal year (for the year ending March 2015)

History

eDreams ODIGEO was founded in June 2011, created through the merger of eDreams and Go Voyages, and the acquisition of Opodo and its subsidiary Travellink, in a move that anticipated the consolidation of what remains a highly fragmented sector in Europe.

In April 2014, eDreams ODIGEO went public on the Madrid stock exchange ^[10]

Independent Board Member James Hare oversaw the public launch on April 4, 2014.^[11]

eDreams offered its stock at 10.25 Euros per share.^[12] That stock price had fallen to 1.02 Euros by October 24 of 2014, wiping out around one billion Euros of market capitalization.^[13] Some commentators called the launch “Europe’s worst performing IPO of 2014”.^[14]

eDreams issued the following announcement: “Effective March 25, 2015, eDreams ODIGEO (“the Company”) accepts the resignation of Mr. James Hare as an Independent member from the Board of Directors”.^[11]

In June 2015, CEO Dana Dunne introduced a new strategy focusing on mobile, revenue diversification and customer experience improvements, which led to a strong turnaround in business performance.^[15]

The company has received leading industry awards including “Best Online Travel Partner Global 2015” (CFI.co), “Best Flight Booking Website 2015” (British Travel Awards) and “Best international Expansion” (eAwards – EMOTA).^[16][17][18]

The company introduced new virtual Help Centre hubs in late 2015 across its online travel agency brands eDreams, Opodo and Go Voyages, to allow its customers to access the right information quicker and more conveniently.

In June 2016, eDreams ODIGEO launched free intelligent push notifications on mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, so that travelers can be notified of any flight delays, cancellations and diversions as well as gate announcements and baggage claim areas.^[19]

Go Voyages

1997 Acquisition of Plus travel agency, Go Voyages and the AS400 software

1999 Launch of the digital strategy

2000 Accor enters in the capital of Go Voyages, with a 38.5% share

2001 First OTA to offer travel packages for flight+hotel

2007 Financière Agache P.E. and CNP, buy Accor from Go Voyages.

2010 LBO of Ardian 420 employees

eDreams

1999 Founded in Silicon Valley by Javier Perez–Tenessa and Mauricio Prieto.^[20]

Venture capital with Apax Partners, Atlas Venture, DCM, and 3i as principal financial stakeholders

2000 Start of operations in Italy and Spain. TTV earns 171m euros

2005 Leading OTA in Southern Europe

2006 LBO with TA Associates

2007 Entry in Portugal, France, Germany

2009 Development of a new technology platform

Addition of 14 more country markets

2010 LBO by Permira

Opodo

2000 Created by a consortium of nine airlines

2001 Launch of the first webpage in Germany

2002 Launch in the UK and France

2004 Amadeus acquires 55% of Opodo

2005 Fusion of Karavel, Travellink, eViaggi, and Vivacances

2007 Arrival of the current management team

Implementation of the price reduction program

Elimination of Karavel from Barclays PE

TI moves from London to Madrid

2009 Amadeus acquires up to 99,7%

410 employees and 70 outsourced in the call center in France

Liligo

2005 Launch of liligo.com with flight search in France

2007 First fund raising from founders, Business Angels & Alven Capital

Hotel and package categories are launched

Site is launched in Spain, Italy and UK

2008 Second fund raising with 3M€ from Orkos Capital and Alven Capital

Car hire category is launched

2010 New international sites are launched

August: SNCF group enters the capital of liligo.com with 90% share

2013 September: purchase of liligo.com by eDreams Odigeo group

Revenue

eDreams ODIGEO is the largest online travel agency company in Europe, ranking within the top five globally, and is also one of the largest publicly listed European e-commerce companies.,.^[21][22] Under its four leading online travel agency brands - eDreams, GO Voyages, Opodo, Travellink, and the metasearch engine Liligo - it offers deals in regular and charter flights, low-cost airlines, hotels, cruises, car rental, dynamic packages, holiday packages and travel insurance to make travel easier, more accessible, and better value for the more than 16 million customers it serves worldwide.^[23] The company also generates revenue by offering advertisement services to its partners.^[24]

Group ownership

eDreams ODIGEO is owned by Ardian (formerly known as AXA Private Equity), Permira and the board of directors made up of members from each of the four online travel agencies.

Permira was founded in London in 1985. The firm has 25 partners and a team of 130 workers from 23 different countries. Permira has made 190 private equity investments, and owns 24 companies worldwide. Since 2002, it has expanded to the U.S. and Asia.

Ardian was founded in 1996, with headquarters in Paris and offices in Frankfurt, London, Milan, New York, Singapore, Vienna, and Zurich. The company has 235 workers who are responsible for managing a wide range of active Buyouts: Buyout, Venture Capital, Co-Investment and secondary funds from other funds.

References