Karavel Groupe

Karavel Groupe is one of the largest tourism groups in France.

The group’s three brand platforms are FRAM, Promovacances, and ABcroisières, which, together with a network of 170 physical agencies across France, offer online package holiday deals at 250 clubs and resorts, as well as over 500 tour packages worldwide.

Karavel Groupe’s successful multi-channel strategy means its online platforms attract more than 7 million unique visitors each month and assist nearly one million customers annually.

Since our investment, Karavel Groupe has doubled its revenues to over €1 billion and expanded its workforce to more than 1,000 employees.

VALUE CREATION

Initially, Equistone backed the management team’s plans to develop a new, more flexible travel offering, along with continued expansion through add-on acquisitions. In particular, Karavel Groupe pursued the acquisition of Thomas Cook agencies in France, which completed in 2019. 

With the onset of the Covid pandemic affecting the entire travel industry, Equistone continued its support throughout the crisis with five follow-on capital commitments and also assisted with raising over €50m of state-guaranteed loans and subsidies, as well as a direct governmental loan, both in 2020 and in 2021. In parallel, Equistone supported the group’s strategic initiatives to develop direct online sales, reposition its renowned ‘Club’ offering, and improve its IT systems while the industry was in shutdown.

As a result, Karavel Groupe rebounded successfully after the pandemic and is now in a strong position in the French travel market, with several competitors having either been forced to scale down operations or not withstood the challenges during the pandemic.

THE EXIT

Equistone sold its Fund V investment in Karavel Groupe to a consortium comprising Montefiore Investment, Ceres Industries Capital and CFJ (Compagnie Financière Jousset).