Andera Partners, a leading player in sponsorless operations through its Andera Acto team, is investing together with the founder and CEO, Ziad Minkara, and IDI, the historical shareholders of the CDS Group, in the restructuring of the capital of the Group in order to provide it with support in the next development cycle.
Established in 2001, CDS offers a complete digital platform enabling its clients (large companies and travel agencies dedicated to companies) to manage the entire business hotel reservation chain and to generate savings on direct and indirect purchases.
An independent French leader and the second largest player in Europe, the Group offers technological solutions developed to satisfy the complex needs of its clients. By combining tools with high added value and essential services – reservation platform, support, payment and reporting solutions, customised developments – the Group provides a one-stop solution, ensuring a quality and reliable customer experience. Furthermore, this is illustrated by its new name, S4BT – Solutions for Business Travel.
Its unique position enables the CDS Group to satisfy the needs of all business sectors and company sizes, which prioritise the control of their hotel expense budgets.
Thanks to its sustained development, stemming from organic growth and successful external growth operations internationally, the Group currently has 450 employees throughout six European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Croatia, and Romania), and operates four brands (CDS, CRC, Goelett and SIAP) generating an annual volume of hotel reservations of 800 million Euros, attesting to its strong market position.
This sponsorless operation facilitates the restructuring of the capital of the Group by Ziad Minkara, founder and CEO, who aims to rely on Andera Acto and IDI, historical shareholder reinvesting with a minority stake, in pursuing the development of the Group, notably through external growth, in order to expand its scope internationally.
Regarding this phase, Ziad Minkara noted: “At the start of the process, Arnaud and his team expressed a strong will to support us with a true entrepreneurial spirit. Their expertise was a key driving force in my choice. The renewed trust of IDI working alongside us strengthens our determination. With François Machenaud, we fully commit to raising the CDS Group’s profile to world leader in Business Travel Tech solutions. Together with our teams and financial partners, we will shape the future of business travel while maintaining our independence”.
Arnaud Faure, Partner at Andera Acto added: “Ziad and his teams have demonstrated their ability to manage strong external and organic growth to become a leading European player offering a complete solution for managing business travel. We are thrilled to support them during their next development phase, particularly in Anglo-Saxon countries. The group aims to become the leading European technology integrator in the hotel and business travel sector dedicated to companies and travel agencies”.
Marco de Alfaro and Jonathan Coll, from IDI, conclude: “The journey undertaken by the CDS Group since our entry into the capital in early 2020 has been impressive. Ziad and his teams have demonstrated their ability to expand and develop their client portfolio, despite a challenging environment, while consolidating their market through the integration of three strategic players, enabling them to become a leading pan-European group. We are pleased to renew our trust in Ziad and his teams and excited to take part in the next phase of this ambitious journey in France and internationally.”