HotelBeds Group is making a move to consolidate the travel wholesaler business with a deal to buy US-based Tourico Holidays.
Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed and the deal is subject to approval by regulators.
The deal includes the entire Tourico business, covering its wholesaler service and technology development operation in Israel.
Tourico was formed in the mid-1990s as a means of connecting intermediaries to content covering flights, hotels, attractions, cruise trips, car rentals and vacation rentals.
It claims to have almost 5,000 clients in 100 countries using its platform.
HotelBeds sees the acquisition as a means to expand its business into areas such as North America, where Tourico has traditionally had a large customer base.
In a statement, HotelBeds says:
"Tourico Holidays will continue to operate as an independent business while a long-term strategy is developed to find the most appropriate way to combine the businesses."
The agreement is the first significant strategic move by HotelBeds following its sale by TUI Group to Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in April 2016 for $1.3 billion.
Tourico CEO, Uri Argov says:
"Tourico Holidays’ management team looks forward to bringing together these two great businesses in order to better serve our combined supplier and client base.
"At a cultural level, this deal is strong because our two organisations are both entrepreneurial, dynamic and high energy – and just like Hotelbeds Group, we're passionate about what we do and focus hard on execution."