GERMANY, Jan. 17, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- The leading German travel portal, Travel 24.com AG (Neuer Markt SIN 748750), and Lufthansa Systems GmbH intend to found a joint venture. Buchungsmaschine AG, until now a wholly-owned subsidiary company of the Travel24.com group, will be brought into this joint venture and will act as the corporate umbrella for the new company. A memorandum of understanding, which still requires the approval of the supervisory boards, has been signed in this regard. The parties both have a 50% stake in the joint venture and intend to include a third partner. The headquarters of the new company will be located in Norderstedt near Hamburg; it will be headed by Jens Henze, until now managing director of Buchungsmaschine AG. A total of 50 employees will begin joint co-operation in locations in Norderstedt, Frankfurt and Cologne.
An integrated e-business platform for B2B and B2C markets will be offered which will revolutionize the electronic marketing of travel-related products and services. Users are the existing and new customers of both partners. For example, the product WebFly, a reservations application for scheduled flights and business trips, will expand the service portfolio for customers of the Travel24.com group, while Buchungsmaschine AG's Internet travel applications in the leisure travel sector represent added value for customers of Lufthansa Systems.
This joint venture will allow Travel24.com AG to reduce both additional development costs and development times so decisive in the rapidly expanding e-travel market. Additional information will be made public at the balance sheet press conference on 29 March 2001.