International law firm Bird & Bird is advising client Secret Escapes, the members-only flash-sale site offering exclusive deals on hand-picked luxury travel, on its largest corporate acquisition to date.

Secret Escapes has agreed to acquire 100 per cent of Slevomat Group (Slevomat.cz, Zlavomat.sk and Skrz.cz), Central and Eastern Europe’s leading travel deals and experiences company. When combined with Secret Escapes’ Travelist business in Poland and its young and fast-growing Travelist sites in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, this acquisition will make Central and Eastern Europe one of Secret Escapes’ largest business areas, behind Germany and the UK. The acquisition was announced on 29 August 2017 and is expected to close during the final quarter of the year.

The Bird & Bird team was led by Corporate Partner Simon Allport who was assisted by Legal Director Jubeenh Nazhat and Associate Tom Darvill in London and received support on the Central and Eastern European aspects from Martin Spicka, Ivan Sagal, Filip Hron, Pavel Hejl in Prague, Peter Rippel-Szabo, Gabor Helembai, KarimLaribi in Budapest and Bibiana Mozolova, Radovan Repa in Bratislava.

Simon Allport, Partner in the International Corporate Group at Bird & Bird commented: “With the growth of the online travel market showing no signs of slowing, we are delighted to have advised Secret Escapes on this exciting move, one which clearly demonstrates Bird & Bird’s position and capability for handling industry shaping cross-border M&A activity”