Czechs buy Unister travel portals: Who is behind Rockaway Capital? – Business week

Jacqueline Goebel

The buyer of fluege.de and Ab-in-den-Urlaub.de is It the Czech Internet group Rockaway Capital. But in the Background a Chinese Investor pulls the strings.

thanks to Rainer Calmund and football player Michael Ballack as good as any German travel portals fluege.de and know-in-the-holiday. For years, Calmund and Ballack in a bid for the travel portals, the Spots flickered in Prime time by the television. The two Internet portals are therefore considered to be crown jewels in the battered realm of the financially ailing Internet group Unister. Since the Consumer insolvency after the plane crash by founder Thomas Wagner are available for sale. Now, as it goes with the portals.

Unister-insolvency – An economic crime?

• misfortune

  The case is mysterious and sounds like an economic crime: a Self-made millionaire and founder of the Leipzig Internet company Unister, Thomas Wagner, crashes on 14. July 2016 with a private machine in Slovenia. On Board Cash. Shortly thereafter, the Holding company, insolvency registers, as well as a subsidiary company. For years it is speculated on the economic difficulties. Many questions are open.

  source: Reuters

• What is so far about the plane crash?

  The crash could have contributed to the icing of the single-engine plane. Problems had been reported in the 73-year-old Pilot of the Slovenian air traffic control. Slovenian media speculated that the chartered is likely to be significantly above the for this type the usual flight altitude of 5000 meters on the road. The investigations of the wreck are still ongoing, also under participation of the German authorities.

• Who was on Board?

  in addition to the company’s founder and Unister-the main shareholder of Wagner (38), the co-partner Oliver Schilling (39), a 65-year-old man and a Pilot.

• What was the reason for the trip?

  Wagner and his companion wanted to meet up in Venice with potential investors, such as Unister has informed. In doing so, you will be cheated. The Slovenian police reported that documents on Board of the plane, which indicated that Wagner “was damaged to a greater sum”. In media reports speculated about the investors and pushed the wrong money, officially, nothing is confirmed. The origin of the site of the accident found 10,000 Swiss francs in cash is unknown.

• Why the group came through the death of Wagner, in the wrong location?

  Wagner was at times as an East German, a flagship entrepreneur and, later, business came to a practices of Unister again and again in the criticism. The last published balance sheet of Unister Holding, is from 2011. Its sole Director was Wagner, who held all the strings in the hands. In 2002, he had founded Unister as a 23-Year-old in Leipzig, initially as a student exchange, and the Start-up company on a rapid growth rate. 2015 was then to match the speech, 30 million euros per year should be saved.

• How was the group structured?

  Under the umbrella of Unister Holding GmbH has a wide range of companies, operating in more than 40 Internet portals, on topics such as travel, news, real estate, or partner of mediation was found, including popular sites like fluege.de, ab-in-den-urlaub.de, news.de or partnervermittlung.de. A total of more than 1000 Employees worked for the group of companies.

• Who owns what?

  Up to his death, held Wagner to around 40 per cent of the shares and was the principal shareholder Unister Holding. The Rest is distributed according to company information on the four co-founders – including Schilling, who was also in the crash – as well as a company called Opus30 management company.

• again and again, there was an investigation. What was it about?

  2012 was Unister to the attention of the judiciary. Wagner and three other managers were accused of, among other things, on the grounds of illegal insurance business and tax evasion. Unister rejected the allegations. The process remains, because the district court in Leipzig is currently examining a further action.

The Name of the buyer is in for a Surprise-in-the-holiday and fluege.de a complete newcomer to the Czech Internet investor Rockaway Capital on the German market. Also, German companies like Pro7Sat1 and holidaycheck and is home to the National companies.

Rockaway Capital trumped them all. The Czechs are considered as one of the largest Internet companies in Central and Eastern Europe. However, in the case of the Unister-Deal a silent Partner plays the crucial role. Because Rockaway is also CEFC, one of the ten largest private corporations in China, with fluege.de up and down-in-the-holiday. The Plan: The two investors want to attract Chinese tourists with the help of the Unister portals to Germany.

The core business of CEFC Oil and Gas, but the Chinese are also participating as investors in various businesses. In Rockaway, it is officially called, the Chinese took no impact and are only involved financially. But the CEFC has built up in the past few years, a foothold in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Unister-insolvency administrator Lucas Flöther has found a buyer for the core business of the Leipzig-based Internet group. A holding company in the travel portals Ab-in-den-Urlaub.de and fluege.de takes over.

especially the interest of Chinese tourism seems to be big: the CEFC is involved in hotel chains and airlines. The Chinese investors, to build structures for the almost 1.4 billion traveller is resident in China. And in Europe, enshrined online portals could play a key role.

For the two investors is, therefore, particularly Ab-in-den-Urlaub.de interesting. Finally, the CEFC has bought the majority of the Rockaway-Portal Invia, this works very similar to Ab-in-den-Urlaub.de. In the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, Invia, it is already the market leader. However, since last year, Invia in the far East is active and attracts Chinese travelers to Central Europe. The company particularly benefits from three direct flights from China to Prague.