TVZ.L Regulatory News (TVZ)

1 Dec 2005 07:02

Travelzest plc01 December 2005 Date: 1 December 2005On behalf of: Travelzest plc ("Travelzest" or the "Company") Travelzest plcAcquisition of The Best of Morocco Limited ("Best of Morocco") Travelzest plc, the British travel group offering specialist travel programmes,announces that it has entered into an agreement to purchase the entire issuedshare capital of Best of Morocco which will be satisfied wholly by cash. Best of Morocco is a privately owned tour operator specialising in high quality,tailor-made holidays to Morocco for individuals or small groups. It provides apersonalised service and its highly experienced and knowledgeable staff helpeach customer select the hotels / resorts from their large range which areappropriate for the customer's desired style of holiday. Best of Morocco is thepremier agent for the Marathon des Sables, a foot race that takes place inMorocco in April each year, covering some 230km. Best of Morocco provides thelargest contingent of runners for the race each year. Travelzest will acquire Best of Morocco for an aggregate consideration of£2,667,522 in cash on completion, subject to the fixed asset value and cashposition of Best of Morocco at completion. Audited results of Best of Morocco for the year ending 31 July 2005 showturnover of £2,441,792 and operating profit of £127,351 (2004 £70,267). Afteradjustment for overhead costs relating to the previous owners, which cease uponacquisition by Travelzest, the operating profit figure would rise to £363,082.At 31 July 2005, net assets were £982,989 (2004 £1,025,217), including cash of£1,380,579 (2004 £1,118,740). The acquisition of the Best of Morocco meets Travelzest's criterion of being aniche, quality tour operator, which will provide a significant contribution toGroup profits and extend the overall group portfolio. Commenting on the acquisition, Chris Mottershead, Travelzest's Chief Executive,said: "Travelzest was created and floated on AIM in October 2005 to create a newtravel group known for the quality and expertise of the companies within thegroup. Our focus is on high quality brands which have been able to demonstrate asuccessful track record during the last two years which has been a difficultperiod for the travel industry. We are delighted to be adding Best of Morocco toour portfolio and believe that this business typifies the type of business weseek to attract to the group. Despite the fact that this is the secondacquisition since flotation - we've only just begun." Enquiries: Christopher Mottershead 020 7747 7231Travelzest plc Emma Kane / Duncan McCormickRedleaf Communications Limited 020 7955 1410 Background information on Travelzest Travelzest is a travel group with high quality brands offering specialistholiday programmes and services. Chris Mottershead, 47, the Group Chief Executive who joined Travelzest in April2005, has extensive experience in the travel industry and in working for bothlarge and small organisations. He was managing director of TUI UK between 2001and 2004 with responsibility for Thomson Holidays, Lunn Poly, Travelhouse andother travel businesses based in the UK. During that time, he steered thecompany through one of the most difficult periods for travel and still achievedrecord profits. Prior to this, he was President and CEO, North American LeisureGroup, Airtours plc, which he joined in 1993 and where his roles includedmanaging director and finance director. He joined Airtours from Aspro Travel &Inter European Airways where he was Group Finance Director. The Group currently comprises: VFB Holidays - a long established, award winning tour operator, which providedholidays for approximately 24,000 passengers in its last financial year. VFB iscurrently contracted with the owners of approximately 350 holiday cottagesthroughout France for the summer season, and has booking arrangements with over150 hotels, most of which are privately owned and are located in rural orsemi-rural locations. VFB specialises in cottage holidays in France, but alsohas a number of other holiday programmes including: France a la Carte (hotelaccommodation), Corsica, Short Breaks, Escorted Tours and River Cruises. Holiday Express - one of the UK's leading on-line travel agents, Holiday Expressis a travel agent specialising in on-line travel fulfilment services and onlinetravel sales. Holiday Express' retail business (acting as travel agent),providing package holidays, charter flights and ski booking services, accountsfor the vast majority of its revenue and the remainder of its revenue isgenerated through acting as a tour operator. Holiday Express owns a number oftravel website domain names, including:- www.holiday.co.uk- www.flight.co.uk- www.discountholidays.com Best of Morocco is a privately owned tour operator specialising in high quality,tailor-made holidays to Morocco for individuals or small groups. It provides apersonalised service and its highly experienced and knowledgeable staff helpeach customer select the hotels / resorts from their large range which areappropriate for the customer's desired style of holiday. Best of Morocco is thepremier agent for the Marathon des Sables, a foot race that takes place inMorocco in April each year, covering some 230km. Best of Morocco provides thelargest contingent of runners for the race each year. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange