Tourisport, a leading French agency for sports travel, was taken over earlier this year by Chlorophylle, an investment fund set up by Michel Leclercq, the founder of Décathlon, which is now known as Oxylane. Chlorophylle acquired 80 percent of Tourisport from three of its managers in January. The remaining 20 percent is in the hands of Xavier Descamps, who is one of the company’s founders and remains its general manager. After several buys in the last years Tourisport reached sales of about €40 million in 2008. Its leading brands are Clubaventure for trekking and Sportaway for action sports and water sports. Based in Marseille, the travel agent insists that its acquisition by Chlorophylle should not be regarded as a strategic investment by Oxylane, and that there aren’t any plans for synergies between the two companies. However, Tourisport adds that its choice of Chlorophylle as a financial partner was partly motivated by their common interests in the outdoors and in sports activities. Tourisport is a major French buyer of products such as wind-surfing and kite-surfing equipment. For the time being, Tourisport will chiefly use Chlorophylle’s support to expand in other European countries.
