Charles Russell Speechlys has advised the majority shareholders of Hillgate Travel, a leading travel management services provider, on its sale to Reed & Mackay, a company backed by Inflexion Private Equity. Hillgate Travel provides travel management services to corporate clients, with a particular strength in the financial services sector. For the last 30 years it has built a reputation for made-to-measure services for its clients.
 
With both businesses in growth phase, this move will see the combined business accelerate, particularly across key international markets. The transaction also brings together Hillgate Travel and Reed & Mackay’s client facing technology, which has been a key focus of both businesses in recent years.  It is expected that the combined business will handle more than one million corporate travel transactions a year in the UK alone. The transaction will place the combined business into the top 10 travel management companies in the UK.
 
Both Hillgate Travel and its founder, Jeremy Bull, have been long standing clients of Charles Russell Speechlys, whom the firm has advised on a range of matters including corporate, intellectual property, real estate and private wealth.
 
Corporate partner Andrew Clarke commented: “It was a pleasure to work with Jeremy, the Hillgate Travel management team and GCA Altium on the sale of this extremely successful business, which the firm has advised for many years; our private client partners James Trafford and James Bradford also advised Jeremy on his tax, trust and estate planning on the sale.”
 
Jeremy Bull said: “Andrew and his team did an excellent job on this transaction, accompanying us in a way that was consistently responsive, commercial and effective and at the same time understanding the needs of the business through the whole process, from negotiation of the term sheets through to completion.  The team’s work was invaluable and enabled us to complete the transaction efficiently and to a tight deadline. We thoroughly appreciated having them alongside us.”
 
The Charles Russell Speechlys team also comprised corporate associates Emily Davies and Dafni Loizou, corporate tax partner Robert Birchall, and private wealth partners James Trafford and James Bradford.