CVC exits Etraveli in EUR 1.63bn trade sale

Booking Holdings has regularly taken advantage of market consolidation opportunities since its foundation in 1996. Earlier this month, the GP acquired US-based Getaroom from Court Square Capital Partners. Booking Holdings has a market capitalisation of more than USD 105bn.

CVC acquired Etraveli from ProSiebenSat.1 in June 2017 in a EUR 508m deal, valuing the business at a 14x EBITDA multiple. ProSieben had acquired the business from mid-market GP Segulah in 2015 for EUR 235m. Etraveli was marketed based on EBITDA of EUR 37m and posted revenues of SEK 900m (EUR 92m) at the time.

CVC invested via CVC Capital Partners VI, which held a final close in June 2013 on EUR 10.5bn.

The deal was backed by debt from Credit Suisse, Jefferies and UBS, Unquote reported at the time. The package comprised a EUR 240m senior debt facility and a revolving credit facility of EUR 30m to support the transaction.

Etraveli made a series of add-ons under CVC's ownership, beginning with Greece-based E-Travel in November 2017. Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in December 2017 that the company was seeking to double its revenues and become a global travel player within five years, citing CEO Mathias Hedlund. The company posted gross sales of EUR 3bn and net sales of EUR 170m at the time.

The company was named in the second round of the auction process for Czech market peer Kiwi.com in October 2018, but General Atlantic went on to win the process; Kiwi could now consider an IPO in two to three years, Mergermarket reported in April 2021.

Travel and leisure buyout dealflow has continued to recover from 2020, which saw 23 deals with an aggregate value of EUR 3.9bn, second only to the aggregate value low-point of 27 deals totalling EUR 1.9bn recorded in 2012. Exits in the sector have remained low in 2021, with just 26 deals recorded, versus 44 in 2019 and 29 in 2020. However, these include deals such as ICG's GBP 900m sale of Park Holidays, as well as the SBO of European Camping Group by PAI Partners from investors including Carlyle and Montefiore.

Unquote spoke to Gaëlle d'Engremont, partner and head of food and consumer at PAI Partners, about the prospects for the travel and leisure sector for the latest edition of the Unquote Private Equity Podcast. Click here to listen to the episode.

Previous funding
In September 2007, Norvestor Equity acquired Sweden-based online travel agents Seat24 Travel and SRG Online through its Norvestor IV vehicle, merging them under the holding company European Travel Interactive, according to Unquote Data. In July 2010, Segulah acquired the company in an SBO. The company acquired TravelPartner in October 2010.

Company
Founded in 2000, Etraveli is an online flights booking platform. Its consumer brands include FlightNetwork, GoToGate, Mytrip & SuperSaver, while the company delivers B2B services via brands including TripStack. Its platforms provide flights for booking companies including Booking.com and Google Flights. In addition to its headquarters in Uppsala in Sweden, the company has offices in Athens, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Toronto, Mumbai, Pune and Buenos Aires, employing more than 1,000 staff.

People
CVC Capital Partners – Lorne Somerville (managing partner).
Booking Holdings – Glenn Fogel (CEO).
Etraveli – Mathias Hedlund (CEO).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Nordics
• Consumer
• Sweden
• CVC Capital Partners
• Trade sale