Australians complete Global Travel Group takeover

Stella Group, the Australian travel company, will create the UK’s largest network of independent of travel agents following its acquisition of UK chain, Global Travel Group. The deal is expected to be approved by shareholders in January.

The deal will see Stella Group, which already owns the Travel 2/4 and Travelbag brands, grow from 80 outlets to more than 1,100.

It will not affect Global’s ongoing merger with Worldchoice but will see both companies taken over by Stella, which is expected to retain all of its brands.

Global chief executive Andrew Botterill is expected to keep his job and will report into Andrew Laurie, managing director of Stella in the UK.