CVC Capital Partners buys Etraveli for 508 million Euro

CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) today agreed to acquire Etraveli, the global flight-centric online travel agency (OTA), for 508 million Euro from ProSiebenSat.1. The German media company paid 235 million Euro for the company in October 2015 when it was purchased from Segulah.

Etraveli, with headquarters in Uppsala, Sweden, is a global e-commerce platform for flight tickets (e.g. Gotogate, Supersavertravel, Flygresor.se), combining a strong market position in the Nordics with a fast-growing international business.

The company operates in 46 countries on 5 continents. Etraveli has grown by about 40% annually since 2014 and sold airline tickets and related services to more than 5 million travelers in 2016 for an aggregate value of ca. SEK 18 billion.

Over the past few years, Etraveli has expanded internationally, achieving substantial market share in major European markets such as the UK, Germany and France. With CVC as its new partner, Etraveli is aiming to increase its global footprint and become the largest online travel agency in Europe.

“In recent years, Etraveli has been transformed into an international company with a clear strategy based on offering consumers cheaper airline tickets more efficiently than competitors in many corners of the world,” says Mathias Hedlund, CEO of Etraveli since 2014.

Commenting on the sale process, “It is with joy and anticipation that we today welcome our new owners, CVC. From the start of this process, CVC showed their astute understanding of both our future challenges and opportunities. Now we look forward to further enhancing our ambitions with CVC, striving to increase our international presence, both organically and through acquisitions,” he continues.

Lorne Somerville, Partner and Head of TMT at CVC, said: “The online travel sector is dynamic and fast-growing, and Etraveli is a clear front-runner due to its data-driven approach and highly scalable business model. We look forward to bringing the sector and wider CVC network together with Etraveli’s excellent management team to transform the company into a truly global platform.”

Gustaf Martin-Löf, Managing Director in CVC’s Nordics team, added “It is a great privilege to be working with Mathias and his team in the next stage of the company’s development.”