Home » News » Helloworld eyes European expansion of ResWorld through new investment

22 March, 2023

Helloworld eyes European expansion of ResWorld through new investment

Helloworld Travel Limited (HLO) announced it had agreed to acquire a 34 per cent stake in Oslo based B2C travel business, Australiareiser (ATS) from its founders.

The move, as Helloworld’s CEO and MD Andrew Burnes said, is to showcase “the functionality of ResWorld to potential customers across continental Europe and the UK and providing access to the system for retailers and wholesalers across these markets.”

ResWorld is part of Helloworld’s technology suite which also includes;

Smart Tickets, Helloworld’s ticketing technology;
Ready Rooms, Helloworld’s global accommodation portal for agents; and
Mango, Helloworld’s wholesale and inbound reservation system.

“Australiareiser will become the launch customer for HLO’s mid office system, ResWorld, in Europe,” Burnes said.

“We have spent the last 5 years developing this system for our agency networks in Australia and New Zealand and it is now at a point where we can take it to other countries and deploy it.”

Rolf Kjeseth, CEO of Australiareiser said he was delighted with the new equity partnership which cemented a long-term business relationship between Australiareiser and HLO. “We have been working with ATS and HLO for a long time now. During this period, we had the opportunity to explore the new ResWorld system that HLO has developed, and it is a first-class product in our view and perfectly suited to our business in Europe.

“We will be implementing it in the next few months and are delighted to be the launch customer for this new mid-office system in partnership with Helloworld.”

ResWorld is now deployed in over 160 agencies across Australia and New Zealand with rollouts slated throughout the year. There are over 500 registered users and this is expected to more than double over the next 12-18 months.

The acquisition will be earnings accretive in FY24 and beyond. The consideration represents an FY23 EBITDA multiple of approximately five times forecast earnings for Australiareiser. (Note the Australiareiser FY23 ends 31 December 2023).

The consideration for the acquisition will be funded from HLO’s existing cash reserves.

HLO has been working with Australiareiser since 2014 when AOT acquired the business of ATS Pacific from HLO. Prior to that, the business had been working with ATS Pacific since its inception. AOT subsequently merged with HLO in 2016.

Australiareiser is the largest specialist travel wholesaler from Scandinavia to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Its other brands include Fijireiser, Private Travel Lab, Gruppe Rundreiser and Workations.

Advertise with us

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

Australiareiser helloworld Helloworld Travel Limited Resworld