Aimia, a global leader in loyalty, invests in Spain's Travel Club
Travel Club strengthens its expertise with the addition of Aimia as a
program partner
MONTREAL and MADRID, April 22, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ – Aimia Inc. (TSX:AIM)
(“Aimia”), a global leader in loyalty management, has acquired a 25 per
cent stake in Travel Club, Spain’s largest coalition loyalty program.
Aimia, which operates loyalty programs in more than 20 countries,
becomes a joint owner of Travel Club alongside Iberia, Repsol and
Eroski.
Travel Club has 6 million members, 30 business partners and generated
revenues of €40 million in 2013. Aimia will draw on its international
experience to grow Travel Club’s member base, deliver more value to
members and attract partners from new sectors including finance,
fashion, insurance and telecoms.
Aimia’s expertise includes growing Nectar, the UK’s leading coalition
loyalty program, from a start-up company to a multi-national business
in the space of ten years. Today, Nectar has a UK membership base of 19
million – more than 50 per cent of UK households. Aimia has also built
a significant presence in the Italian customer loyalty market through
Nectar Italia.
Aimia’s wider coalition portfolio includes Aeroplan in Canada, as well
as investments in Air Miles Middle East, Club Premier in Mexico, and
China’s first coalition loyalty program, China Rewards.
Jan-Pieter Lips, Regional President, EMEA, Aimia, said, “There is huge
potential to take Travel Club into more households across Spain.
Consistent with our strategy in other markets, we’ll be transporting
the experience we have gained building Nectar into a major force in UK
customer loyalty to help Travel Club’s partners create deeper
relationships with new and existing customers as Spain’s economy
continues to turn a corner.”
Santiago Pérez, Director General of Travel Club, said, “Customer loyalty
has become even more important to businesses, and the opportunity to
work with the most innovative organization in the industry marks a
significant moment for Travel Club. Aimia’s expertise in delivering
smart, data-driven loyalty analytics worldwide makes the company a
natural partner for us.”
Marc Allsop, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Business Development,
Aimia said, “We are delighted to be investing alongside some of Spain’s
largest companies in Europe’s fifth largest economy to grow and
strengthen Travel Club’s customer and partner relationships.”
The investment coincides with the launch of Travel Club’s new strategic
business plan. Aimia will be working with Travel Club to put this plan
into action, which includes expanding Travel Club’s user base and
introducing more ways for customers to earn points. Travel Club will
remain focused on generating more value for shareholders and better
returns for current sponsor companies.
About Aimia
Aimia Inc. (“Aimia”) is a global leader in loyalty management. Employing
more than 4,300 people in 20 countries worldwide, Aimia offers clients,
partners and members proven expertise in launching and managing
coalition loyalty programs, delivering proprietary loyalty services,
creating value through loyalty analytics and driving innovation in the
emerging digital, mobile and social communications spaces.
Aimia owns and operates Aeroplan, Canada’s premier coalition loyalty
program, Nectar, the United Kingdom’s largest coalition loyalty
program, Nectar Italia, and Smart Button, a leading provider of SaaS
loyalty solutions. In addition, Aimia owns stakes in Air Miles Middle
East, Mexico’s leading coalition loyalty program Club Premier, Brazil’s
Prismah Fidelidade, China Rewards – the first coalition loyalty program
in China that enables members to earn and redeem a common currency, and
i2c, a joint venture with Sainsbury’s offering insight and data
analytics services in the UK to retailers and suppliers. Aimia also
holds minority positions in Cardlytics, a US-based private company
operating in card-linked marketing and Think Big, the owner and
operator of BIG – AirAsia and Tune Group’s loyalty program. Aimia is
listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: AIM). For more information,
visit us at www.aimia.com.
About Travel Club
Travel Club is the leading coalition consumer loyalty program in Spain.
It was launched in 1996 and provides its partner companies with
consumer behavior insight, advanced analytics and highly personalized
communications. Collectors receive Travel Club points for their regular
purchases that can afterwards be redeemed for an extensive portfolio of
both Travel and Leisure rewards or selected merchandise items from
premium brands. Currently, 6 million Spanish households are enrolled in
Travel Club, with over 12 million individual card users. Travel Club
shareholders are Iberia Airline, Grupo Eroski, Repsol, and Aimia.
Travel Club offers an unparalleled reach for Spanish consumers, with
over 30 leading retail partner companies and 10,000 outlets throughout
different verticals, plus over 180 online stores where they can obtain
points.
The development of digital channels plays a key role in the current
communication strategy of Travel Club. The website www.travelclub.es gets over 3 million visits per month and 70% of point redemptions are
done on the web. 350,000 users have downloaded the Travel Club mobile
app so far. Furthermore, Travel Club keeps an active presence in social
networks, with over 250,000 followers on Facebook, and 1,000,000
regular players in regularly updated versions of Travel Club social
games.
Travel Club is owned and operated by Air Miles España, S.A.
SOURCE AIMIA
Contact:
Investor contacts:
Karen Keyes
Aimia
+416 352 3728
Media contacts:
Megan Ratcliffe
Aimia
+44 (0)20 7152 4881
Elle Macgregor-Chatwin
Headland
+44 (0)207 367 5215
aimia@headlandconsultancy.com