Inflight Service acquisition completed

Gavin Lipsith

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Polish competition authorities have approved the buy-out by Helsinki-based private equity firm CapMan

Nordic investment group CapMan has completed its acquisition of Swedish travel retailer and distributor Inflight Service after competition authorities in Poland approved the deal. The Helsinki-listed investment company, which acquired 68% of Inflight Service, said it plans to discuss the company's strategy during the autumn.

Investment director Mats Gullbrandsson told RavenFox.com: "Now the exciting part starts. We will be discussing the future strategy of the company with Inflight Services over the next few months and should be able to talk more about plans for expansion after that."

CapMan and Inflight Service have already examined opportunities in the Nordic region and in Europe, both east and west, said Gullbrandsson, although it had not decided on priority areas yet.

Inflight Service's purchasing pool includes Silja Line, MyTravel Northern Europe Airways, Tallink and DFDS Seaways. The company recently acquired SAS Trading's Eastern European business. It achieved turnover of Eu138.6m ($167m) in 2004.