Berlin — The investment company Odewald KMU II (board of directors from left: Oliver Schönknecht, Heiko Arnold, Joachim von Ribbentrop) acquires a majority stake in GIATA GmbH. Since 1996, GIATA has been supporting its customers in the tourism industry as a leading provider of “non-bookable content”, continuously setting new standards in hotel content processing and distribution. The founding shareholders have taken a significant stake in the company and will remain at the company’s disposal for the long term. Odewald KMU II was advised by Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek.
Its modular product range enables GIATA to offer complete solutions tailored to the individual customer. In doing so, GIATA combines innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Digital Fingerprinting with careful, manual research. Customers from over 70 countries include almost all internationally known tour operators and travel agency chains, online travel agencies, the global travel distribution systems and internationally known travel portals. GIATA has thus established itself as the market leader in the market segments served by the company in the rapidly growing global tourism market.
To support further growth, the founding shareholders have entered into a partnership with Odewald KMU, Berlin, an investment company specializing in high-growth medium-sized companies. To this end, Odewald KMU has acquired a majority stake in GIATA. The founding shareholders have taken a significant stake in the company and will remain at the company’s disposal for the long term. The common goal of the shareholders is to continue to grow sustainably in the coming years with the existing product range and to successfully position the product innovations currently being launched on the market. The parties have agreed not to disclose the amount of the investment or further details of the shareholding.
The Odewald KMU II Fund has a volume of 200 million euros and invests in high-growth medium-sized companies. The focus is on companies in the fields of “German engineering”, intelligent services and health. Most recently, Odewald KMU II invested in Langer & Laumann Ingenieurbüro GmbH and heizkurier GmbH in January 2018 with the support of Pär Johansson’s team. Kristina Schneider has also just successfully completed the first add-on acquisition for heizkurier GmbH.
Advisor Odewald KMU II: Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek
Dr. Pär Johansson (Lead), Kristina Schneider, LL.M., Dr. Christoph Schork, LL.M., Tim Remmel, LL.M. (all Private Equity, Corporate/M&A), all Cologne Dr. Sascha Schewiola (Labor Law), Dr. Verena Hoene, LL.M. (IP), both Cologne, Dr. Philip Kempermann, LL.M., Michael Kuska, LL.M., LL.M. (IT) both Düsseldorf.