Hotelbeds Touts New General Counsel's IPO Experience

Hotelbeds, which reportedly hired bankers a couple of months ago to ready an initial public offering, has appointed a new general counsel, and the hotel wholesaler touted her experience in compliance and taking companies public.

Source: Hotelbeds

Sagrario Fernández, who now leads Hotelbeds' legal and compliance teams, "brings a wealth of experience in IPO processes gained at private security services firm Prosegur Cash and Indra, a Spain-based IT and defence systems company, as well as in M&A and capital markets transactions," the Hotelbeds announcement stated.

Fernández most recently was general counsel at Dia Group, a publicly traded Spain-based food chain with more than 30,000 employees.

Palma, Spain-headquartered Hotelbeds, which offers wholesale hotel rooms to tour operators, travel agents and airlines, was acquired by private equity firm Cinven and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board from TUI Group in 2016 for 1.17 billion euros. Its valuation is said to currently be in the range of $4.9 billion to $6 billion (4.5 billion and 5.5 billion euros), according to the publication Expansion.

The company offers hotels from some 1995 destinations, and has more than 3,000 employees.

“Sagrario will play a key role in leading our strategic initiatives and will take Hotelbeds to new heights," said Hotelbeds CEO Nicolas Huss said in a statement. "We are confident that, thanks to her extensive knowledge and experience, she will further strengthen our position as a leader in the global travel industry.”

Perhaps Fernández is another piece in Hotelbeds' IPO considerations.