CarTrawler Acquires Holiday Autos Brand
June 18, 2013
CarTrawler, the online global car rental platform, has today (June 18th, 2013) announced the acquisition of the online assets of Holiday Autos from Travelocity Global for an undisclosed sum. CarTrawler will not be acquiring the operations of Holiday Autos
The online assets being acquired comprise the Holiday Autos brand, Holiday Autos URLs and domain names, and the underpinning B2B2C commercial agreements. Under a separate agreement, CarTrawler will become the exclusive provider of car rental to Lastminute.com, a company which is part of Travelocity Global.
CarTrawler has developed a market leading technology platform and infrastructure which enables it to distribute car rental through multiple routes to market on a global basis. It will transfer Holiday Autos brand and online assets onto its platform in complement to its existing channels. This acquisition delivers added scale, diversification and a clear value creation opportunity for CarTrawler.
Following this acquisition, CarTrawler, which has delivered significant growth since launching in 2004, will now have pro forma booking volumes of 2.5 million per annum and gross sales of €500 million.
Mike McGearty, Chief Executive Officer of CarTrawler said: “The acquisition of these online assets will drive CarTrawler’s growth through diversification and increased scale and will deepen our geographic footprint. It will complement the existing aviation, travel, hospitality, leisure and consumer channels currently active across our platform. Our strategy is to realise the strong economic potential of the Holiday Autos assets through the platform, thereby creating enhanced value for CarTrawler, our partners, suppliers and customers”.
Matthew Crummack, President, Travelocity Europe, commented: “For the last ten years the Holiday Autos brand has been integral to Travelocity Global, and it has been our privilege to support the team to grow the business to become one of Europe’s most recognised, respected and leading car hire online aggregators. The time is now right for its further success to be developed by CarTrawler. Their compelling vision and investment plans for the Holiday Autos brand make it the best custodian for the brand’s future growth. ”