Sunweb and GoGo Tours
Joost Romeijn
Sale of a controlling share of GoGo Tours and Sunweb to
AlpInvest Partners
Of all the transactions in which Holland Corporate Finance
has been involved, the sale of Joost Romeijn's travel agencies
Sunweb and GoGo Tours probably comes top of the league for
the most time spent. `This doesn't mean they spent all this time
shopping round with me. The whole travel sector was experiencing
serious shocks in those years. In addition, I didn't really need to
sell; I could be very selective about the choice of buyer.'
Romeijn'sfirstintroductiontothetraveltradewasasatravel
guide, whilst studying economics. `I really enjoyed the travel
world, and thought to myself: hey, I can do that. I had always
toyed with the idea of starting something up myself and now I
saw an opportunity.' Launching consisted mostly of placing a
few ads, recruiting some student friends and many hours on the
phone.`ThefirstwinterIsoldtripsto850people,alltothesame
ski resort in France. Very modest, but I immediately made some
money.'
Ahead of his time
Romeijn's direct selling model was all achieved, in the
pre-internet age, by telephone, distinct from existing agencies,
whose primary point of sale was still the high street shop. The
developmentoftheinternetreallyfireduphiscompany.`Wewere
unique.Wewerethefirsttoofferacompletetravelpackagein
real time on the internet, including advice on availability. And our
booking process was completely automated.'
Taking it up a notch
Ten years of continuous growth lead to a courting by two
potential buyers; both approached Romeijn in the same week of
2001. `That's quite something to handle. I needed some advice,
butIthoughtIwastoosmallforthebigfirms.However,Holland
Corporate Finance immediately made me feel at home.' Why did
Romeijn actually want to give up his company, considering it was
doing so well? `Personally, I found the opportunity of working for
a large corporate organisation very attractive, to see whether
I could build something up there as well. Strategically, I was
convinced of the need to adopt a niche position or operate on a
larger scale. But since neither was an option, we really needed a
partner to be able to take it up a notch.'
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