EQT and Kühne have agreed to acquire a 35 percent minority stake in Flix, a global travel tech company.
Flix, based in Germany, established market-leading positions for long-distance bus travel in Europe, North America and Turkey and is expanding into South America and India through its brands FlixBus, FlixTrain, Kamil Koç, and Greyhound. It reported 30 percent total revenue growth in 2023 and reached €2 billion in annual total revenue. This comes at an increased profitability with adjusted EBITDA of €104 million in 2023. FlixBus is expanding its services in UK, Portugal and Ukraine and has launched in Norway and Finland.
The strong momentum enables Flix to deliver on strategic targets such as the expansion of its global footprint, transforming the North American bus market and scaling FlixTrain to respond to the rising demand for alternative rail services in Germany, according to a release.
EQT is investing through EQT Future. The investment will support Flix’s plan to expand the offering of sustainable and affordable travel options, the release added.
In addition to a primary investment in Flix, EQT Future and Kühne will acquire shares from existing shareholders to build a long-term anchor shareholding in Flix. This investment will strengthen Flix’s balance sheet and help accelerate its trajectory of profitable growth, the release said.
“We aim to ensure Flix’s low carbon solution to long-distance travel reaches even more people across the world and believe that Flix is on a path to being the category defining player in mass ground transportation, with huge potential to become a household name in the industry and beyond,” said Andreas Aschenbrenner, founding partner and deputy head of the EQT Future advisory team, in a statement.
The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.
Kühne, based in Switzerland, comprises Klaus-Michael Kühne’s business interests.
EQT is a global investment firm with €242 billion in total assets under management.
