Online retailer, hotel booking engine provider, marketing firm and reservation connectivity service Fastbooking has raised Euro35mm in venture funding (thanks to m-travel). Money has come from 3i and Edmond De Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRIP). In exchange the two firms gain a 62% stake, valuing Fastbooking at Euro45mm.
Fastbooking operate B2C businesses through Fastbooking.com and a network of destination/SEO targeted sites under the collection of brands known as Only-Recommended-Hotels.
According to the Fastbooking corporate site, the group processed a volume of more than Euro206mm in 2006 in hotel bookings, representing 1.5mm room nights from 3,500 hotels. What is unclear bout their results is what the split in this volume is between B2C/direct to consumer activity generating commission levels that a retailer would enjoy and B2B reservation services which are presumably of lower margin compared to the volume processed. My sense is that the vast majority of the volume is B2B processing given the valuation of the deal.
No comments:
Post a Comment