VR Equitypartner supports succession at 1AVista Reisen

Frank­furt a. M. — The Fran­k­­furt-based invest­ment company VR Equi­typ­art­ner is acqui­ring a mino­rity stake in 1AVista Reisen GmbH (“1AVista”), a Colo­­gne-based tour opera­tor focu­sing on all-inclu­­sive river crui­ses, as part of a succes­sion plan. With this invest­ment, VREP is support­ing the company’s next stage of deve­lo­p­ment. Toge­ther, 1AVista and VREP plan to conti­nue their growth course in the coming years by further expan­ding the fleet. 

The current mana­ging direc­tors and share­hol­ders Hagen Mesters and Sascha Gülden­meis­ter of 1AVista Reisen GmbH are taking a signi­fi­cant stake in the company. At the same time, Raphael Dombrow­ski, Mana­ging Direc­tor, and Manuel Klou­bert, autho­ri­zed signa­tory, will also acquire shares in 1AVista as part of the tran­sac­tion. Hubert Schulte-Schmel­­ter, who foun­ded the Colo­­gne-based tour opera­tor with a focus on river crui­ses in 2007, is trans­fer­ring his shares in the company to the new owners. 

1AVista, one of the leading tour opera­tors for river crui­ses on the Rhine and Danube, estab­lished an all-inclu­­sive concept with full board and drinks on board at an early stage, as well as an addi­tio­nal Germany-wide door-to-door pick-up service. 1AVista is growing conti­nuously and curr­ently gene­ra­tes sales of more than EUR 50 million. Today, 1AVista offers a program of over 100 river crui­ses as well as selec­ted round trips in seve­ral Euro­pean count­ries, Egypt, Morocco and Turkey. The tour opera­tor employs around 30 people. The 1AVista fleet curr­ently consists of eight full char­ter ships with a total of around 1,000 beds. In 2027, the Vista­Ba­ro­ness, a 110-metre-long river ship, will join the fleet; in addi­tion, the new MS Vista­Queen (135 meters), another ship for more than 190 guests, which is curr­ently being built in the Nether­lands and will then be deployed on the Danube, will be added in 2028. 

Toge­ther with its share­hol­ders, VR Equi­typ­art­ner aims to conti­nue its successful growth stra­tegy. This prima­rily includes the expan­sion of the fleet with new river cruise ships equip­ped with the latest envi­ron­men­tally friendly tech­no­logy and a high level of comfort for guests. In addi­tion, further growth is to be driven forward through targe­ted acqui­si­ti­ons and their struc­tu­red integration. 

Chris­tian Futter­lieb, Mana­ging Direc­tor at VR Equi­typ­art­ner, says: “1AVista has an attrac­tive, clearly posi­tio­ned product offe­ring in a sustainable growth market. We were parti­cu­larly impres­sed by the manage­men­t’s many years of opera­tio­nal expe­ri­ence and the resi­li­ent part­ner­ships with ship­ping compa­nies. On this basis, we want to support the company toge­ther with the manage­ment in imple­men­ting its growth stra­tegy, further expan­ding its market posi­tion and tapping into addi­tio­nal deve­lo­p­ment poten­tial in the tourism sector.”

Hagen Mesters, share­hol­der and mana­ging direc­tor of 1AVista Reisen, empha­si­zes: “With VR Equi­typ­art­ner, we have gained a long-term orien­ted part­ner who will actively accom­pany us on our further growth path. Above all, VREP has expe­ri­ence in the further deve­lo­p­ment of compa­nies and a strong network. The part­ner­ship and cons­truc­tive nature of the coope­ra­tion has alre­ady become appa­rent during the invest­ment process. We look forward to tack­ling the next deve­lo­p­ment steps toge­ther and further expan­ding our offering.”

The tran­sac­tion is subject to appr­oval by the anti­trust autho­ri­ties. The parties have agreed not to disc­lose the purchase price.

Consul­ting firms invol­ved in the tran­sac­tion by VREP:

Finan­cial:
RSM Ebner Stolz (Matthias Kran­kow­sky, Henrik Merz, Felix Roth, Louis Perrino, Xiaohe Zhang)

Commer­cial:
Dr. Fried & Part­ner (Dr. Markus Heller, Fran­ziska Mosen­heuer, Anne Kaffka)

Legal:
ARQIS (Dr. Lars Laeger, Benja­min Bandur)

Tax:
ARQIS (Jens Knipping)

Anti­trust law:
LUPP + Part­ner (Tilman Siebert)

About VREP

Whether mezza­nine or direct invest­ment, succes­sion or growth plan — we support you with our tailor-made finan­cing solu­ti­ons. —-www.vrep.de