The Swedish hotel supplier Hoist Technology and the French hotel and health care

solutions supplier Locatel have entered into an agreement to merge to create the largest hospitality supplier on the European market. The company will cover 14 countries in Europe and the Middle East and in addition to these several markets directly or via distributors. The formal date of the merger is the 8th of April* and on that day the companies will become HoistLocatel. The merger has evolved through the business alliance that the parties formed in 2012.

– After over a year of successful partnership with Locatel this is a natural step that will

benefit our customers across Europe. Our goal is to service all sizes of hotels, both independently operated and chains, with the most advanced systems to support each customer's profitability, says Malcolm Lindblom, CEO of Hoist Technology.

Today Hoist Technology holds a strong position as a supplier for both independently

operated hotels and hotel chains in the middle market, from 2-4 stars, whereas Locatel is well established within the segment of mid-market towards high end, with 4-5 stars. This combination will make HoistLocatel a strong supplier for all segments.

Hoist Technology and Locatel formed a business alliance in 2012, successfully

marketing many of the products across their markets. The merger will bring more benefits for the companies and their customers. The main drivers for the merger are:
  • Broader one-stop-shop product and service offering on all markets to all hotel categories.
  • Strengthened product development as two distinguished development teams join forces.
  • Gaining critical mass in a number of countries.

This means that HoistLocatel will be able to run the operation more cost efficiently and

at the same time have increased resources for product development. The development will become stronger and more efficient with an enhanced knowledge base which will benefit already existing customers as well as new ones.

– Significant for our companies is the fact that the staff on both sides is extremely

dedicated to the industry, with extensive understanding of how our customers' operations can profit from using our system solutions. Our aim is to provide complete solutions which will increase our clients' profitability and as a full service provider we have staff to handle every part of a business deal, from marketing and sales to installation and support and this is our clients' guarantee of a safe and long-term investment, says Pierre Lestage, Locatel CEO.

Hoist Technology has shown great increase in turnover over the past ten years and this

is partially due to the strategy to work with three year growth plans. This is a method that HoistLocatel will continue to follow to be able to develop and provide European hotels with state of the art system solutions.

HoistLocatel will be based out of Sweden with the headquarters in Stockholm and

Malcolm Lindblom will be the CEO. Pierre Lestage will continue as a senior advisor in Hoistlocatel and remain on the board to ensure continuity and support of the merger. The company will cover a large part of Europe which means that European hotel chains will have the opportunity to use the same supplier across their market. HoistLocatel will also be established in the Middle East and have resellers across the globe.

HoistLocatel will be a full service provider with an offer that includes system solutions

and products, installation, service and support, hosting and IT services and financing solutions. The company's main customer segment will be the hospitality industry but HoistLocatel will also provide convergent IT solutions for the health care and public operations.

For more information please contact:

Malcolm Lindblom, CEO, Hoist Technology, +46 (0)8 555 685 00

Pierre Lestage, CEO, Locatel, +33 141 97 75 00

About HoistLocatel

HoistLocatel develops and supplies systems, products and services to

independently operated hotels and hotel chains, health care institutions and public operations on the European market and in the Middle East. The company offers complete solutions and systems, products and services that increase profitability for the customers. HoistLocatel is the result of the merger of Hoist Technology, which was founded in 1994, and Locatel which was founded in 1962. It is based out of Sweden (HQ) and covers 14 countries in Europe and the Middle East. HoistLocatel also has a purchasing office in China and is represented by distributors in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America. HoistLocatel has annual sales of around 100 MEUR and employs about 500 staff.

HoistLocatel's Business Concept

"Through our industry expertise and our innovative and dedicated approach, we will offer

complete solutions and systems, products and services that increase profitability for hotels, health care and public operations."