Bookabed completes sale of business to Dubai based distribution specialist TBO.com

Takeover comes after the Tek Travels subsidiary acquired a 51% stake in the wholesaler last year

B2B accommodation provider BookaBed has been taken over by Dubai-based global distribution company TBO.com.

The deal emerged after TBO subsidiary Tek Travels acquired an initial 51% stake in Switzerland-based BookaBed last year.

BookaBed chief executive Karl Tyrrell will continue to head the business and lead plans for expansion in the UK and Ireland.

The TBO Bookabed partnership was described as “yet another critical stepping stones in our journey to build the world’s largest travel distribution platform”.

A joint statement said: “We take immense pride and pleasure to share that we have now completed all important milestones to make Bookabed a fully owned TBO company. 

“Travel by its nature is global and is becoming more diverse over years. 

“The TBO Bookabed partnership allows us to bring the global reach of TBO with strong local presence of Bookabed to offer more value to our customer partners.”

Tyrrell said he and director Jackie Clynch were “very proud to have completed the sale of Bookabed to TBO.com”. 

He added: ”We have found over the past two years that both companies share the same values and furthermore share the same ambitions to grow further in the Irish market and make bigger inroads in the UK.” 

TBO.com president Neeraj Gera said: “Bookabed deepens TBO’s European footprint into Ireland and UK. 

“We have had a solid 2022 and would continue to accelerate the growth momentum providing more supply to our customer partners and more source market diversity to our supply partners. 

“Karl and the fabulous team at Bookabed has built a strong franchise and I am delighted to welcome the Bookabed team to the TBO family.”