The acquisition, Cruise.co.uk said, will “create a differentiated European leader in a large, growing and fragmented market”.

The new combined company will have cruise sales of about €250 million, which Cruise.co.uk said will make it the largest cruise travel agency in Europe.

The company’s websites, Cruise.co.uk, Cruises.uk, Kreuzfahrtberater.de and Seascanner.com, will have a combined annual traffic of more than 37.5 million visits.



Kreuzfahrtberater.de, based in Ahrensburg, was founded 12 years ago by Friedrich Koester, Malte Koester and Andreas Koester-Clobes and has more than 60 staff.

The founders will reinvest significantly in the combined business and “will remain a key part of the management team”.

Seamus Conlon, Cruise.co.uk chief executive, said: “Both companies share a passion for the sector, have great staff and the technology required to deliver great service.

“This transaction allows us to diversify our business by moving into a new large cruising market and represents a major step forward in Cruise.co achieving its strategic aim of becoming the leading pan-European cruise online travel agency.”


Koester added: said: “We have chosen Cruise.co and Bridgepoint as partners to drive consolidation in the market and grow our business more strongly.

“Together with our fantastic team we are excited to broaden our product offering and share knowledge with our new UK colleagues.”

The UK ocean cruise market totalled 1.89 million passengers in 2016 and the German market was 2.02 million.

Cruise.co was formed 10 years ago when Seamus Conlon led a management buyout from Carnival Corporation in 2007, when its turnover was £18 million.

Bridgepoint Development Capital subsequently acquired Cruise.co in 2016 in a transaction totalling £52 million.