Deal Announcement 03/24: Retail & Consumer

The Deal

The PwC M&A team is pleased to announce the successful sale of Travel Charme GmbH & Co. KG (“Travel Charme”) to DSR Hotel Holding GmbH, part of REWE Group (“DSR”).

Travel Charme is one of the leading operators of 4- and 5-star hotels in the DACH region with a hotel portfolio including holiday hotels in unique, first-class locations on the coast and in the mountains. Travel Charme is continuously expanding its portfolio with high-quality hotels both in DACH and in neighboring holiday regions.

PwC has led a highly competitive process in which necessary industry know-how and relations to investors turned out to be the crucial factor to address the relevant, international parties. Direct access to relevant decision makers through PwC’s network has paved the way for high interest from strategic players in the market. 

Ferdinand Hirmer, shareholder of Travel Charme: “It was important to us to create a successful future for the hotels, the company, the guests and, above all, the employees of Travel Charme. To this end, we went through a structured process to find suitable partners and investors. In DSR Hotel Holding, we have found a buyer who recognises the value of the hotels and our team.”

Karl J. Pojer, CEO of DSR emphasizes: “By taking over the unique Travel Charme hotels, we will be able to offer our guests even more luxurious, relaxed and varied holiday experiences in exclusive locations. The hotels are an excellent addition to DSR Hotel Holding’s existing portfolio. They will enable us to service all key locations on the Baltic Sea and in other top locations in future. We are also forming a financially sustainable structure, achieving earnings growth and strengthening our position in the market.”

The share purchase agreement was signed in February 2024 and the transaction was closed in March 2024.

Travel Charme 

Travel Charme, with its ca. 800 employees, operates 13 hotels under two brands in the upscale, 4- and 5-star holiday hotel sector on the Baltic and North Seas, in the Harz region as well as in the Alps and on Lake Garda. Since 2018, the company had been part of the Hirmer Group which is also active in fashion retail and real estate activities.

DSR Hotel Holding

DSR Hotel Holding is active as hotel management company in Germany, Austria and Italy. As a subsidiary of DR Hospitality GmbH & Co. KG, it has been a joint venture between DSR GmbH and DER Touristik as the majority shareholder (part of the REWE Group) since 2021.

DSR Hotel Holding combines many years of experience and expertise within the tourism sector with a holistic and sustainable entrepreneurial approach. The portfolio currently comprises 22 hotels, 15 of which are managed under three of the best-known and most prestigious hotel and resort brands in the German-speaking region A-ROSA, aja and HENRI.

PwC

The global PricewaterhouseCoopers network is a worldwide association of independent auditing and consulting companies which together employ more than 364.000 employees in 151 countries (“global PwC-Network”). Our global network comprises over 3,700 deal professionals all over the world, realising approx. 700 successful transactions per year.

The PwC M&A team consisted of Alexander Knögel (Partner), Jonas Luxenburger (Senior Associate) and Leonie Merschhoff (Associate).