DLA Piper advises Wirtualna Polska on a deal to acquire international Szallas Group

Jakub Domalik-Plakwicz and Marek Kłeczek, together with DLA Piper's international team of lawyers, advised the Wirtualna Polska Group in connection with the conclusion of a conditional agreement with, among others, funds managed by PortfoLion Capital Partners to acquire the Szallas Group, which owns leading travel platforms for booking accommodation in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and Croatia.

The purchase price consists of the Szallas Group's enterprise value of EUR72 million, plus a net cash value estimated at approximately EUR10 million as of the closing date. Szallas Group owns accommodation booking platforms, which are today the first choice brand for tourists. Through acquisitions and organic growth, the Szallas Group today provides accommodation booking options in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and Croatia, based on its four main brands (szallas.hu, noclegi.pl, hotel.cz, travelminit.ro). In addition, it operates services offering spa packages (spa.cz), as well as offering hotel discount coupons (maiutazas.hu), tour operator services, vouchers for tourist attractions and B2B services. In five markets, the Szallas Group offers accommodation in a total of 87,000 properties.

The international transaction team, consisting of DLA Piper lawyers from Poland, Hungary, the UK, the Czech Republic and Romania, was led by Jakub Domalik-Plakwicz and Marek Kłeczek from DLA Piper's Warsaw office.

"I would like to sincerely congratulate our client, the Wirtualna Polska Group, for entrusting us with the support in the realization of such a complex, multi-jurisdictional transaction, being the first foreign acquisition of the Wirtualna Polska Group, aimed at creating the largest group of travel platforms for booking domestic accommodation in Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, given the cross-border nature of the transaction, I would like to thank our entire CEE team for their utmost professionalism and commitment to the work carried out. I believe that this transaction showcases our unparalleled M&A capacity in CEE," said Jakub Domalik-Plakwicz, partner in DLA Piper's Commercial Law, M&A and Corporate Law practice in Warsaw.

Advice on aspects of Hungarian law, including due diligence of Szallas Group companies based in Hungary, was provided by: András Posztl, Gábor Molnár, Gábor Spitz, Blanka Börzsönyi, Kristóf Szeredi, Andor Boros, Imre Béres, Gábor Fejes, Fanni Oroszi, Helga Fehér, Bettina Újfalusi, Zoltán Kozma, Dániel Necz, Gergő Kóródi, Gábor Borbély, Attila Sári, Krisztina Várkonyi, Bettina Bonczok, Márk Rózsavölgyi, Katalin Banász, Eszter Tóth and Réka Reisz.

Advice on aspects of English law was provided by: Ben Forgiel-Jenkins and Irvin Shirvani.

Due diligence of Szallas Group companies based in the Czech Republic was carried out by Miroslav Dubovský, Petr Samec, Jan Žídek, Ondřej Chlada, Jan Metelka, Petr Varvařovský and David Hron.

Due diligence of the Szallas Group company based in Romania was carried out by Ana-Maria Andronic, Monica Preotescu, Bogdan Buta, Corina Badiceanu and Diana Nacuta.

The Polish DLA Piper team involved in the transaction further included: Kamila Możdżeń, Arkadiusz Karwala, Dominik Mizerski, Emilia Kalecka and Agnieszka Tarasiuk.

We would like to thank the Wirtualna Polska Group (Adam Rogalinski, Jakub Moczulski), PortfoLion Capital Partners (Tibor Győrbiró, Bence Gergely), the sellers' advisors from Raymond James (Tomas Artner, Ilka Holtgreve) and the sellers' legal advisors from Baker McKenzie Budapest (Daniel Oros) for their cooperation.