Wirtualna Polska Holding, listed on the Polish stock exchange, is buying Szallas Group which also operates Szallas.hu, one of the most popular Hungarian online travel agency sites besides several touristic platforms in other countries – announced the management and the representative of the previous majority owner of the company, PortfoLion Capital Partners. The Warsaw-based e-commerce and media company group will pay to the ownership group consisting of PortfoLion and private individuals approximately 82 million EUR total transaction value.

Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A. is a company group listed on the Polish stock exchange, the owner of several major media and e-commerce portals in the Polish and regional markets. In terms of touristic services Wirtualna Polska has been focusing on Poland so far, but now its portfolio will grow with several new countries and platforms, with a perspective of tripling the size of its tourism market.

Szallas Group's first Hungarian product, Szallas.hu, founded in 2007 has developed into one of the most popular accommodation booking portals in Hungary in recent years. In 2015, PortfoLion acquired the company relying on OTP and EXIM bank capital, it supported the already outstanding organic growth of Szallas.hu with an intensive acquisition strategy. With PortfoLion Szallas Group was able to buy further products in Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic, while Szallas.hu became the leading domestic OTA in Hungary. Due to the fruitful cooperation of Szallas management and PortfoLion, the Group has been able to catch the eye of giant companies like Wirtualna Polska. Through subsequent acquisitions and organic growth, Szallas Group’s revenue has multiplied, reaching 200 mEUR total transactional value - due to over 1 million reservations - in the June 2021-2022 period from 20 mEUR in the year before the PortfoLion aquisition.

Szallas Group has been able to compete successfully against major global players, even when the sector was deeply stricken by the COVID pandemic. The combination of the cutting-edge regional technical solutions and the local customer service and marketing teams ensured the agility needed in such a hectic market environment. The Group has improved its portfolio with specialized online touristic products providing spa packages or travel experience vouchers. Szallas Group offers accommodation in a total of 87,000 facilities which might grow up to 100 000 after the transaction.

„We are proud that in this now ending era, we managed to build a strong regional brand and a solid corporate background together with the managers and employees of Szallas Group. We firmly believe that this great cooperation was the key of this success story” - summarized Tibor Győrbiró PortfoLion partner. The venture capital firm has stricken several outstanding deals during the last 1,5 year, selling its tech investments to American, Asian and European companies.

“We’ll go on the CEE growth track we’ve established with PortfoLion with further acquisitions and organic growth in the region. Becoming a member of such a large and rapidly growing group as Wirtualna Polska Holding opens up new opportunities for our dedicated team of 350, especially in case of our Polish portfolio” says József Szigetvári, CEO of Szallas Group.

The change of ownership does not affect the operation of the group's products. “Change will be most noticeable in that from now on, we will serve our existing and future partners with more and better services, and our guests, of course, with even more accommodation.” added Szigetvári. Further developments are also planned in Hungary, and thanks to the acquisition, the group’s expansion in Poland is expected to strengthen.

The transaction is expected to be finalized during autumn, after Hungarian authorization processes are over.

“The acquisition of Szallas Group is our first foreign investment and a groundbreaking moment in the history of Wirtualna Polska Holding - says Jacek Świderski, CEO of Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A.”We are extremely impressed with the competences of József and his team, as they have demonstrated how to run a successful business in competition against global platforms on the local market. We also believe in the potential behind the travel industry as a whole. This has been confirmed by the financial performance of our own tourism product, Nocowanie.pl, which posted record-breaking revenues in its history in Q2 2022” added Jacek Świderski, CEO of Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A.