Wings Travel Management has acquired Michelle’s Travel in South Africa for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 1973, Michelle’s Travel is based in Boksburg to the east of Johannesburg with 50 staff handling the business travel requirements of clients predominantly in the engineering, construction and manufacturing industries. The company will re-brand as Wings Travel Management and all staff are being retained.
With this move Wings, dual-headquartered in London and Johannesburg, will strengthen its corporate client portfolio.
“Wings specialises in servicing clients where travel is a critical part of their business model. Michelle’s Travel fits this strategy perfectly as they have a strong customer base within the construction and engineering sectors,” said Tony Sofianos, CEO of Wings. “The oil, gas and marine sectors account for the majority of our global business. However the current downturn in the energy sector due to falling oil prices has prompted us to take a strategic decision to expand our corporate arm in order to manage this downturn.”
Wings is migrating services from its South Africa operations to Wings’ operations in oil producing countries such as Angola and Nigeria for legislative reasons, and Sofianos said it was important to acquire a sizeable business in South Africa to ensure economies of scale are maintained.