Kurt Geiger owner Cinven frontrunner in Hotelbeds bidding battle

Kurt Geiger owner Cinven is poised to return to the hotel bookings market after emerging as front-runner to buy Tui’s Hotelbeds Group website.

The private equity firm, formerly owner of Spanish booking site Amadeus, is understood to have beaten rivals to land Hotelbeds.

The company is similar to Amadeus in offering reservation services to the travel industry. Tui, Europe’s largest travel operator and the owner of Thomson, put the division up for sale last year. It offers about 72,000 beds around the world that can be booked by airlines and travel agents.

The deal is the latest move by Tui boss Friedrich Joussen to exit the online booking market. Last year, he sold LateRooms.com to Indian firm Cox & Kings in a bid to focus more on hotels and cruise ships.

The sale could raise more than €1 billion (£780 million) for the group.

Cinven and Tui declined to comment.