wholly owned subsidiary Sonata Europe has struck a deal to sell its 50.1 per cent stake in =to TUI Travel PLC for up €12 million (Rs 81 crore or $15 million), as per a BSE filing. Headquartered in Hanover in Germany, TUI InfoTech is the IT arm of European travel and tour firm TUI.
“The sale was made for a total consideration of up to €12 million payable on a deferred basis on achieving certain milestones and additionally release from certain obligations of €3.5 million. TUI Travel PLC will also be taking over economic benefits for the 12 months preceding the date of transaction,†the company said in the filing.
In Sep 2006, Bangalore-based Sonata Software acquired 50.1 per cent stake in TUI InfoTec GmbH for Rs 106 crore from TUI AG. The deal also included TUI InfoTech's subsidiaries, Travel BA.sys and ACCON RVS, which provide a technology platform and back-office services for travel agencies, respectively.
The exit from the venture would boost consolidated bottom-line of public listed Sonata Software. Sonata clocked a net loss on a consolidated basis for the year ended March 31, 2012 primarily on account of the TUI InfoTec GmbH. TUI InfoTech clocked revenues of €80.9 million with net loss of €4.4 million during FY12.
The continuing softening of the economy in Euro zone has had a direct impact on the tourism business, which affected the business of the German firm. During last year, the JV undertook certain measures to manage costs and offered a voluntary retirement programme. The revenue guarantee to the JV by TUI AG expired in December, 2011.
TUI InfoTec GmbH offers various IT services (includes managed testing, application services, mainframe and client server, enterprise solutions, IT service management, and portfolio and project management), and IT operations (includes outsourcing projects, data center and security, it service management, process automation, helpdesk services, server management, data center management, network management, desktop support and it security services).
UK-based TUI Travel PLC was founded in 1923 which provides flight and accommodation booking, tour packages and cruise booking services.
(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)
