Alpharooms will operate as a separate brand and combined with Teletext will carry more than 850,000 passengers.
An industry source said: "Alpharooms had been available to sell for a while. It had a multi-million pound VAT dispute which left it facing difficulties after a tough trading year and needed to renew its Atol and therefore it is perceived in the marketplace that Truly picked it up for a song”
The source cited Alpharoom’s “long Google history” and the overlaps it has with the destinations in which Truly Group operates as reasons for the purchase’s appeal.
Truly Travel’s commercial director Peter Panteli said: “This is a very exciting deal, which overnight more than doubles the group’s hotel buying power. There is little overlap between the businesses, with Teletext focused on the call to book market and Alpharooms in the online sector, giving us confidence that the expansion of both brands moving forward will come at the expense of our competitors.”
Alpharooms chief executive Jacky Bedlow added: “Alpharooms is a well known brand in both the UK and Ireland and has been trading successfully online for over 15 years.
“We are now set for further expansion on the back of this transaction and the increased financial strength the combined group offers. This is ’Truly’ a deal where two and two can make five very quickly.”
Alpharooms was one of the companies challenging HMRC over the payment of VAT through the tour operators’ margin scheme (Toms) after MedHotels won its case against the tax authority in the UK Supreme Court in 2014.
The potential liability was not disclosed, but sources suggested it was in the region of £6 million, which may have lowered the asking price.
In January Alpharooms launched a new dedicated trade site named betabeds.com. The company claimed betabeds would offer "some of the most competitive rates in the industry as well as a flexible commission models".
