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Hotel Beds managing director Carlos Muñoz: ‘The acquisition was a good deal for Tui, Hotelbeds and Cinven’


New Hotelbeds owner will invest to expand business


FOLLOWING ITS SALE BY TUI, THE SPANISH BED BANK WILL SPENDON ITS TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCT RANGE. BY LEE HAYHURST


The new owners of trade supplier Hotelbeds are “ready to spend more money” to grow the business and spur innovation.


The sale of the Spanish bed


bank by Tui for €1.17 billion to private-equity firm Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment was completed in September. Hotelbeds managing director


Carlos Muñoz said the deal promised new funding to expand its core business and drive innovation. “The new owners are financially very strong and fully committed to


72 travelweekly.co.uk 24 November 2016


investing in our business,” he told Travel Weekly at the recent World Travel Market. “They are ready to spend more money. “That’s very good news. Being


part of Tui had been positive for us, but its core business was not the bed bank, so it was not so ready to invest in us. “The acquisition was a good deal


for Tui, Hotelbeds and Cinven.” Muñoz said continued


investment in technology was vital in the highly competitive bed bank sector, as was expanding product range.


“Acquiring more product


requires more sales people on the ground,” he added. “Smaller players are realising if you do not have the scale, the sector is tough. “Many play the role of consolidator, taking inventory from Hotelbeds and others. So the added value they offer is limited. “Because our contracting is


direct with hoteliers, we are not a consolidator, and we provide significant value to our customers and suppliers. “It’s all about adding value. If


you do not provide value to the market, then the market will filter that. Ultimately those firms will not continue [in business].” Muñoz described many


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