MILAN (AIMnews.it) – Portale Sardegna has exercised the option to purchase the residual stake in Royal Travel Jet Sardegna, equal to 49% of the share capital, previously held by Acacia Travel Holding and Francesco Atzeri. The transaction completes the integration started with the acquisition of 51% of Royal Travel Jet, strategic both considering the background of the companies involved, and in virtue of the activities that both of them do. The specialisation of Royal Travel Jet in the luxury tourism sector and the international customer portfolio allows Portale Sardegna to achieve its strategic objectives of internationalisation, and of lengthening the tourist season. Integration will also reinforce the competitiveness of the websites. “The acquisition of Royal Travel Jet – commented Massimiliano Cossu, CEO of Portale Sardegna – has allowed us to achieve the objectives stated in the IPO with absolutely unexpected timing. Portale Sardegna today can count 40% of customers foreign, which started from a figure close to zero, has conquered a new target of clients (mainly in the luxury segment), has significantly increased turnover, an indispensable condition for creating economies of scale in the Marketing & Distribution of a complex market and presided over by large international players, it has acquired back-end technology in house that allows the group to create new travel solutions with marginal investments. In particular, thanks to the binomial internationalisation-technology, we will be able to launch an innovative platform in mid-December for lengthening the season. This is called the Open Voucher Experience, for the first time a mapping of seasonally adjusted attractions for tourists, made accessible and classified by themes and able to increase motivation for traveling because it is integrated with packages including accommodation and modes of transport that are modular and scalable, both horizontally (multi-destinations) and vertically (which can be sold in a variety of sites with an innovative online affiliation system), which represents a unique innovation in the panorama of tourism that is enjoying, already in the pre-stage of animation in the territory, great attention. The Open Voucher Experiences really start with the involvement of the territories, the mayors, the networks of municipalities, the regional parks (first of all the Regional Park of Tepilora) that are marrying together our project. Even the renowned association ‘Borghi Autentici’ has signed a partnership with Portale Sardegna for the joint promotion of their product”. “The acquisition of RTJ – adds Cossu – is already producing important synergies and savings on costs, which will take shape to a substantial level during 2019, and reach an optimal level in 2020, with the use of Hubcore technology in all group sites. Furthermore, it is fundamental and indispensable to underline the manner in which this acquisition took place, and which has actually taken on the substantial contours of a merger, with ACACIA TRAVEL HOLDING acquiring 7.74% of Portale Sardegna SpA, with the consequences of ‘securing’ the goodwill acquired and obtain the maximum benefit from the economic synergies, professional and of experience, through the involvement of the Atzeri brothers (Gianluca and Andrea) on the Board of Directors, who from the first moment provided an excellent contribution to the development of the company. “The acquisition envisaged a payment of 550,000 euros. Simultaneously, Portale Sardegna activated a medium-long term unsecured loan granted by Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena for 600,000 euros, with the intention of partly financing the acquisition and preserving the company’s liquidity. Furthermore, F.A. Travel, a minority partner of Pavoneggi, an indirect subsidiary of Portale Sardegna, through Royal Travel Jet, has granted Pavoneggi an interest-bearing loan, for a total amount of 50,000 euros, whose repayment is due at the end of the thirtieth month following today’s date. The acquisition of residual participation in the share capital of Royal Travel Jet, and the financing of F.A.Travel to Pavoneggi, constitute related transactions.