Christian Tour, one of the leading tour operators in Romania, debuted today on the Main Market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). The listing follows an Initial Public Offering (IPO) valued at RON 149 million (€28.4 million), with a 121% subscription rate.

The listing of Christian Tour shares marked a unique moment on the local capital market, as it is the first company from the organized tourism sector to debut on the Exchange. Furthermore, the public offering conducted by the company in May this year brought a premiere: the 53% tranche allocated to retail investors at the close of the offering is the largest to date among all public offerings carried out on the BVB Regulated Market, a tranche that was ultimately oversubscribed.

Christian Tour was founded in 1997 and has evolved over the years from an entrepreneurial travel agency into one of the most prominent integrated tourism platforms in the country. Currently, the company owns the most extensive travel agency network in Romania, with 63 proprietary branches serving over 365,000 tourists annually.

The company’s shares are traded on the BVB under the ticker symbol TRIP, and the company’s market capitalization at the IPO execution price of 1.895 RON/share stands at RON 410 million.

The company’s free-float stands at approximately 37.4%. The significant shareholder of Christian Tour, holding a 61.95% stake, is CPM Cambridge Holding S.R.L., a company wholly owned by Cristian Pandel, the founder of Christian Tour. A 0.69% stake is held by Oxford Investment Alliance S.R.L., a company owned by Cristian Pandel as well.

Investors purchased a total of 80,692,629 Christian Tour shares through 4,609 subscription orders. In the institutional investors’ tranche, 37,542,629 shares were allocated at a price of 1.895 RON/share, while in the retail investors’ tranche, 43,150,000 shares were allocated, of which 41,717,041 shares were priced at 1.800 RON/share and 1,432,959 shares at 1.895 RON/share. Out of the latter, 1,400,000 shares were provided as an over-allotment option.

“We welcome Christian Tour’s debut on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. With this listing, tourism – a sector so close to the everyday lives and joys of Romanians – finds its place on the Exchange’s board, further enriching the map of sectors represented here. Every entrepreneurial company that chooses the capital market confirms the Exchange’s role as a bridge between the ambition to grow and investor confidence. The diversification of listed sectors is one of the subtle yet real signs of our capital market’s maturation. Congratulations to the entire Christian Tour team for the courage to go public, and I wish you great success on your new journey, this time as a listed company“, stated Remus Vulpescu, CEO of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for Christian Tour. What began as an entrepreneurial company built around a passion for travel has grown into Romania’s leading integrated tourism platform, and our listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange is the starting point of our next stage of growth.

The Romanian tourism market is entering a period of significant growth, professionalization and consolidation, and with the capital raised through the IPO, Christian Tour is uniquely positioned to lead that transformation. We will make significant investments in technology and digitalization – including AI-powered tools that will fundamentally change how Romanians plan and experience travel – while pursuing strategic acquisitions that allow us to build the most comprehensive travel ecosystem in this market.

If the first 30 years in the holiday travel market were about building Romania’s most trusted tourism company, the years ahead will be about something larger: delivering better, more innovative and more accessible travel experiences for our customers, accelerating the modernization of an entire industry, and showing the world what Romania has to offer as a tourist destination.

We are proud to begin this next chapter together with our investors, employees, partners and customers. And if there is one thing three decades in travel has taught us, it is that the most exciting part of any journey is always what comes next”, stated Cristian Pandel, Founder & CEO of Christian Tour.