KUONI has acquired a 45% shareholding in Scandinavia’s third largest tour operator, Apollo Resor AB, for an undisclosed sum.
The Swiss-based operator has an option to acquire a controlling interest from Apollo managing director Fotios Costoulas in 2003.
Apollo, which is third in the Scandinavian market behind Airtours and Thomson, operates in Sweden, Denmark and Norway and owns a charter airline called Novair.
It specialises in holidays to Greece and is one of Europe’s most advanced companies on the Internet, selling around 33% of its product on-line.
The tie up with Apollo follows a pledge by Kuoni to develop European partnerships after the collapse of its planned merger with First Choice earlier this year.