A Travers Smith team led by private equity partner Edmund Reed has advised ECI Partners and management on their agreement to sell CarTrawler to funds advised by BC Partners, in a deal which will represent a 6x return on initial investment for ECI. The sale is conditional upon a technical merger control clearance.

CarTrawler, headquartered in Dublin, is the leading global provider of multi branded car rental solutions to partners in the travel industry. It has over 1,000 partners with which it works to connect end customers to more than 1,200 suppliers across 30,000 pickup locations. It also operates online car rental sites under the Holiday Autos and Argus Car Hire brands. The business was founded in 2004 and has experienced significant growth in recent years.

Travers Smith advised ECI on its acquisition of CarTrawler in 2011 and has acted for the company throughout the investment period, including general corporate and employment advice and advising on the 2013 acquisition of the online assets of Holiday Autos.

The Travers Smith team included corporate associates Jamie Hamilton and Laura Pembridge, banking partner Andrew Gregson and competition associate Chris Prevett.

McCann Fitzgerald provided Irish law advice to the sellers and BC Partners was advised by Dickson Minto.