Secret Escapes, one of the world’s leading, members-only online travel and experiences companies,, has announced its acquisition of 100% of Slevomat Group (Slevomat.cz, Zlavomat.sk and Skrz.cz), Central and Eastern Europe’s leading travel deals and experiences company.
In addition to Secret Escapes’ market-leading Travelist business in Poland and their young and fast-growing Travelist sites in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, this acquisition will make the brand the stand-out leader and the dominant force in travel deals in Central and Eastern Europe. With Slevomat Group’s substantial audience, extensive domestic roster of hotels and impressive performance, this acquisition will make the region Secret Escapes’ third largest business, behind Germany and the UK.
Founded in 2010 by Tomáš Čupr, Slevomat.cz has since become one of the best-known ecommerce brands in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, selling travel and lifestyle experiences to over 1.3 million customers and producing a turnover close to €100m this year.
Slevomat.cz, which will retain its brand and business structure, will expand its international hotel and holiday deals offering, by reciprocally offering Secret Escapes and Travelist product on their platform. The acquisition will enable growth and acceleration in both companies through shared expertise on operational processes, marketing strategy and game-changing technology, such as Dynamic Packaging, which has recently launched on Secret Escapes’ UK site.
Alex Saint, Chief Executive of Secret Escapes, said: “We are really excited to welcome the Slevomat business into the Secret Escapes family. Since we launched our own Travelist brand in Central Europe last year, we have always known that there is huge potential in the region for travel deals businesses, and the acquisition of Slevomat allows us to accelerate our growth in the region. We believe that the deal offers a great opportunity for both businesses to learn and flourish together.”
Mr Tomáš Čupr, Founder of Slevomat said: “The successful exit of Slevomat could significantly help the technology sector in the Czech Republic. In Estonia, proceeds from the sale of Skype enabled a wave of investments into many innovative projects, resulting in the country, despite its small size, becoming a world-leading digital player. I am excited to see a similar success story here with the sale of Slevomat.”
Secret Escapes previously acquired the Berlin-based company JustBook, a mobile first, last-minute hotel booking platform, in January 2013 and Travelist, Poland’s leading travel flash sales business, in May 2014.