Too profitable to abandon, too unprofitable to love
En el intento de una gran empresa familiar española por desprenderse de una división que genera miles de millones pero apenas deja margen, una negociación prometedora con un gigante hotelero de Dubái se ha roto en el punto más humano posible: quién se queda con los trabajadores. El fracaso de Barceló en vender Welcomebeds a WebBeds no es solo un tropiezo comercial, sino el reflejo de una tensión más antigua entre el valor que se mide en cifras y el que se mide en personas. La división Ávoris sigue atrapada en un limbo estratégico, demasiado grande para ignorarla y demasiado poco rentable para quererla.
- WebBeds, el segundo mayor banco de camas del mundo, pagó una penalización de un millón de euros para romper un acuerdo preliminar firmado antes que asumir la plantilla de Welcomebeds.
- Ávoris factura 4.600 millones de euros —casi el 60% de los ingresos del grupo— pero solo genera 60 millones en beneficio operativo, una rentabilidad tan escasa que hace insostenible el statu quo.
- Barceló lleva tres intentos fallidos de deshacerse de la división: venta directa, salida a bolsa descartada por su propio copresidente, y ahora una venta parcial que se ha desmoronado.
- Los empleados de Welcomebeds quedan en una posición vulnerable: si aparece otro comprador con las mismas exigencias de reducción de plantilla, el coste humano podría materializarse.
- La dirección de Barceló apunta a una OPV como cuarta vía de escape, condicionada a que Ávoris mejore su rentabilidad en los próximos años, lo que convierte el futuro de la división en una apuesta a largo plazo.
El intento de Barceló de vender Ávoris, su división de viajes, ha vuelto a naufragar. A principios de 2026, el grupo contrató a Deloitte para explorar la desinversión, y las negociaciones con WebBeds —filial de la australiana Webjet y segundo mayor banco de camas del mundo— llegaron lo suficientemente lejos como para firmar un acuerdo preliminar. Pero la operación se rompió por un único punto de desacuerdo: WebBeds se negó a absorber la plantilla de Welcomebeds, la plataforma de reservas hoteleras en el corazón de Ávoris. La empresa pagó la penalización de un millón de euros estipulada en el preacuerdo y se retiró.
El atractivo de WebBeds como comprador era evidente: opera en el mismo ecosistema, gestiona más de 500.000 hoteles y sirve a 50.000 clientes en todo el mundo. Sobre el papel, la integración tenía sentido. Pero los números de Ávoris cuentan una historia incómoda: 4.600 millones de euros en ingresos en 2025, casi el 60% del total del grupo, con un margen operativo de apenas el 8,8%. Es una división que impresiona por su tamaño y decepciona por su rentabilidad, y Simón Pedro Barceló, copresidente del grupo, lleva tiempo dejando claro que prefiere centrarse en el negocio hotelero puro.
Este es ya el tercer camino que se cierra. Primero se exploró una venta completa, luego una salida a bolsa que el propio Barceló descartó públicamente, y ahora una venta parcial o por partes que ha terminado igual. La división emitió un comunicado genérico sobre la evaluación continua de operaciones, sin confirmar ni desmentir los detalles. Mientras tanto, la empresa estudia una cuarta opción: llevar Ávoris a los mercados públicos si la rentabilidad mejora lo suficiente en los próximos años. Hasta entonces, la división sigue en un limbo estratégico, y sus trabajadores, pendientes de lo que traiga el siguiente intento.
Barceló's effort to unload a piece of itself has stalled again. The Spanish hospitality giant, which brought in consulting firm Deloitte early in 2026 to explore selling off Ávoris—its sprawling travel division—has now watched a deal with WebBeds, a Dubai-based hotel booking platform, collapse over a single point of contention: the people who work there.
Ávoris is a peculiar kind of burden. In 2025, the division pulled in 4.6 billion euros in revenue, accounting for nearly 60 percent of Barceló's total income. But that mountain of money generated only 60 million euros in operating profit—a razor-thin 8.8 percent margin. It is the kind of business that looks impressive on a spreadsheet until you examine what it actually earns. Simón Pedro Barceló, the group's copressident, has made no secret of his preference for the hotel business itself, where margins are healthier and the work feels more tangible. Selling Ávoris has become something of an obsession.
The company has tried three different paths. First came the straightforward sale: find a buyer willing to take the whole thing. Then came the public markets route—an IPO that Barceló himself recently ruled out. The third approach was more creative: sell it in pieces, or bring in partners to own a stake alongside the company. That third path is where things fell apart this time.
WebBeds seemed like a natural fit. The company, owned by Australian parent Webjet, is the world's second-largest bed bank—a business that buys hotel rooms in bulk at discounts and resells them to travel agencies, tour operators, and airlines. Created in 2013, WebBeds has built an inventory of more than 500,000 hotels and serves 50,000 clients. Only HBX, the former Hotelbeds, is larger. The two companies operate in the same ecosystem, speak the same language, understand the same margins and margins and customer relationships. Negotiations progressed far enough that both sides signed a preliminary agreement.
Then WebBeds walked away. According to sources close to the deal, the Australian-backed company refused to keep on the staff of Barceló's Welcomebeds division—the hotel booking platform at the heart of Ávoris. The preliminary agreement included a one-million-euro penalty clause for exactly this scenario, and WebBeds paid it. Barceló's travel division disputed the characterization, issuing a statement that they are constantly evaluating operations to strengthen the group's strategy and that the details of negotiations remain confidential by their nature.
It is the latest in what has become a familiar pattern. Each attempt to divest Ávoris has foundered on some obstacle—market conditions, valuation disagreements, integration challenges, or in this case, the cost and complexity of absorbing a workforce. Barceló has signaled a fourth option: if the company cannot find a buyer, it may take Ávoris public on its own. Simón Pedro Barceló suggested as much in a recent interview, noting that if the division continues to improve its profitability and size, an IPO could make sense. The company plans to keep investing in Ávoris while it waits to see whether that path becomes necessary. For now, the division remains in limbo—too profitable to abandon, too unprofitable to love, and apparently too complicated to sell.
Notable Quotes
If no sale materializes, an IPO could be pursued if the division reaches attractive profitability and scale levels, with continued investment planned to support that outcome— Simón Pedro Barceló, Barceló copressident
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a company with 4.6 billion in annual revenue keep failing to find a buyer?
Because revenue and profit are not the same thing. Ávoris brings in enormous sums but keeps almost none of it. A buyer sees a business that works hard to make thin margins, and that's a harder sell than the headline numbers suggest.
So WebBeds walked away because of the workforce cost?
That's what the sources say. WebBeds likely ran the numbers and realized that keeping Barceló's staff—with their salaries, benefits, contracts—would eat into whatever synergies they hoped to capture. It was cheaper to pay the million-euro penalty than to absorb the payroll.
Does Barceló actually want to keep these people employed?
The company issued a statement saying negotiations are confidential and they're always exploring options. That's corporate language for: we're not going to say. But the fact that they disputed WebBeds' characterization suggests they wanted the staff included in any deal.
What happens to Ávoris now?
It stays inside Barceló for the moment. The company is signaling that if no buyer emerges, they'll take it public as a standalone company. That's a different kind of exit—not selling the division, but letting public markets own a piece of it.
Is that a realistic option?
Only if Ávoris keeps improving its margins. Right now it's a high-revenue, low-profit business. For an IPO to work, investors need to see a path to better returns. Barceló says they'll keep investing to make that happen, but that's a multi-year bet.