AUCTUS invests in LMX Touristik and builds a European tourism platform with Mondiani Group

AUCTUS, the leading investment company for the European Mittelstand, is acquiring a majority stake in Leipzig-based LMX group and, together with LMX founder Markus Hartwig and Managing Director Lars Ludwig, is building a new, Europe-wide platform for the tourism sector: Mondiani Group. LMX acts as the anchor investment and operational core platform of the new group. Hartwig remains significantly invested in LMX, and the existing management team stays fully on board. As part of the transaction, Ludwig is also investing in the company and will simultaneously take over as Managing Director of Mondiani Group.

The LMX group, headquartered in Leipzig, currently employs 68 people and has established itself as a tour operator focused on combining classic and dynamically packaged trips. Its portfolio is complemented by the SunTrips brand, which specializes in individually combinable long-haul trips. The group generates revenues of more than EUR 350 million and serves over 400,000 guests per year. With a strong market position, a scalable technology base, and an experienced management team, LMX brings exactly the prerequisites needed to serve as the core platform of a European tourism group.

AUCTUS Capital Partners is the leading investment company for the European Mittelstand, focused on buy-and-build strategies. AUCTUS’s industry concepts have created more market leaders than any other fund in Europe. The investment approach aims to consolidate fragmented industries through the targeted combination of specialized, often owner-managed companies, forming platforms that are competitive on a supra-regional scale. Central to this approach is the complete preservation of entrepreneurial independence as well as the regional identity of each individual business.

With Mondiani Group, AUCTUS is applying this playbook to the European tourism market for the first time – a sector characterized by small-scale, owner-managed structures, unresolved succession issues, and a growing need for digitalization and scale. LMX serves as the starting point for building a group that combines Mittelstand agility with the strength of a supra-regional platform.

With Mondiani Group, AUCTUS aims to bring tourism activities together under one roof and grow them into a leading European tourism group through targeted acquisitions. Alongside organic growth, the focus is particularly on consolidating further, often owner-managed companies – with the goal of realizing synergies and continuously strengthening the group’s market position. Within this structure, LMX is set to play a central role while remaining entrepreneurially independent.

“With AUCTUS, we have found a partner that is an excellent match for LMX. Its clear focus on Mittelstand companies and its experience in building platforms through buy-and-build strategies provide the ideal foundation for our next stage of development,” says Markus Hartwig, founder of LMX.

In addition to its integration into the new platform structure, LMX will continue to grow organically. At the same time, Mondiani Group will actively pursue further investment opportunities in the European tourism market.

“We want to grow Mondiani Group in a targeted way through further acquisitions and are open to discussions with potential partners,” says Lars Ludwig, Managing Director of LMX, future Managing Director of Mondiani Group and shareholder.