Clifford Chance advises European Bridge Travel on the disposal of Invia, a pan-European market leader in online travel

Clifford Chance advises European Bridge Travel on the disposal of Invia, a pan-European market leader in online travel

The Prague office of Clifford Chance advised European Bridge Travel and its shareholders, Rockaway Capital and CITIC Europe Holdings, on the successful disposal of 100% of the shares in Invia Group, a leading online travel agency in Central and Eastern Europe, to WP Holding. The transaction value is approximately 240 million euros (approx. 6 billion crowns), which makes it one of the largest transactions of the year.

Invia Group is a pan-European online travel agency with over 1,200 employees across five countries, operating a total of 16 offices in Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. Invia Group's teams are globally distributed, with locations in Albania, France, India, Cuba, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and Tunisia.

Rockaway Capital is an established and trusted investment group with a strong track record in CEE and DACH. Founded and managed by Jakub Havrlant, the Group has a presence in 17 European countries, and the companies it manages have over 5000 employees. It operates primarily in the areas of e-commerce, e-travel, venture capital, fintech, media and blockchain - its portfolio includes the DODO Group, Vivantis, Euromedia Group, the Balkan Gjirafa e-commerce platform, tech startups, and RockawayX, which includes one of the largest blockchain funds in Europe.

WP Holding specializes in travel, media and consumer financial products. It owns, for example, the largest online platform for international travel in Poland, Wakacje.pl, and through Szallas Group, it also operates in Poland's Nocowanie.pl, the Czech platforms Hotel.cz and Spa.cz, Hungary's Szallas.hu and Romania's Travelminit.ro and Litoralulromanesc.ro.

The Clifford Chance team working on this transaction was led by partner Alex Cook and counsel Michal Jašek who were primarily assisted by senior associate Tomáš Procházka. The team was further supported by counsel Iwona Terlecka, associates Matěj Pavlík, Natálie Kurková and Marcin Waszyński from the Prague and Warsaw offices of Clifford Chance..