EDreams
History
History
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The company was founded by [Javier Pérez\-Tenessa de Block](/wiki/Javier_Perez-Tenessa "Javier Perez-Tenessa"), James Hare and Mauricio Prieto in Silicon Valley in 2000, with the support of European and American financial groups such as DCM\-Doll Capital Management, Apax Partners, Atlas Venture and 3i Group, among others. In 2000, the company moved its headquarters to Barcelona, Spain, and launched in the Spanish and Italian markets, becoming the first online travel agency to offer its services in Spain. [Javier Perez\-Tenessa](/wiki/Javier_Perez-Tenessa "Javier Perez-Tenessa") served as CEO from 2000 to 2015\. James Hare served as president and Managing Director Italy from 2000 to 2010\.

In October 2006, the American Private Equity firm, [TA Associates](/wiki/TA_Associates "TA Associates"), acquired eDreams for €153 million, becoming the first Leveraged Buy Out (LBO) for an Internet company in Southern Europe and, at the time, the largest to date.[TA Associates Completes €153M Leveraged Buyout](http://www.ta.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=133)  (Last update: 10\-28\-2006, English) In July 2010, the European Private Equity firm, [Permira](/wiki/Permira "Permira"), purchased eDreams from TA Associates for a sum close to €350 million. Permira became the majority shareholder of the company and in June 2011 eDreams ODIGEO was formed from the merger with Go Voyages and acquisition of Opodo and Travellink, becoming the largest online travel company in Europe, and among the top five largest in the world.[– Permira complete first buy\-out for a year](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/93c10f76-99aa-11df-a852-00144feab49a,dwp_uuid=e315c972-de9c-11da-acee-0000779e2340.html#axzz161iX1N3m) (Last update: 07\-27\-2010\) Javier Pérez\-Tenessa was named CEO of eDreams ODIGEO.

In 2012, eDreams launched its free iPhone App. Numerous additional releases have included features such as the inclusion of in\-app push notifications and travel guides for iOS and Android Devices. eDreams launched its free iPhone App [\[40](/wiki/EDreams%23cite_note-40 "EDreams#cite note-40")] and has been releasing new features since then, such as the inclusion of in\-app push notifications and travel guides, launched in June 2016 for iOS and Android Devices.
In September 2013, eDreams ODIGEO acquired the travel search engine Liligo.[– Le site Voyages\-SNCF.com rachète Liligo](http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/services/transport-logistique/20100922trib000551867/le-site-voyages-sncf.com-rachete-liligo.html)

In April 2014, the company completed its €433 million initial public offering on the Madrid Stock exchange, which valued the company at around $1\.5 billion. This was the first\-ever IPO of an Internet startup in Spain, and remains the only IPO of an Internet startup in Spanish history.

In December 2015, the company moved its headquarters in Barcelona from the World Trade Center to new offices. The call center and customer care departments moved to Zona Franca while the rest of the departments were relocated to the centre of Barcelona in the Eixample district.

In January 2015, Javier Perez\-Tenessa retired as CEO and chairman of the company. Dana Dunne, second in command as COO, was promoted to CEO, and non\-executive director Philip Wolf became chairman. The remaining co\-founders departed soon after, with James Hare resigning from the Board in March 2015\.


When did eDreams complete its initial public offering on the Madrid Stock exchange?