IRISH ONLINE CAR rental firm CarTrawler has been bought out by a multi-billion euro investment fund.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed but BC Partners are set to take a majority stake in CarTrawler from the company’s founders, ECI Partners and other shareholders.

Established in 2004 and headquartered in Dublin, CarTrawler provides a platform for car rental providers and works with over 1,000 partners in 174 countries.

Some of their partners include major airlines such as Aer Lingus, Emirates and Gulf Air among others and rental companies like Avis and Budget.

CarTrawler says that BC Partners has an “impressive track record” in the travel industry and the deal will allow the company to grow further internationally.

BC Partners has investments in a number of well known global brands such as Phones 4U and Intelsat.

“We are very excited to be partnering with the management team at CarTrawler, with a view to fully maximising the company’s growth potential on a global scale,” said BC Partner’s Matther Tooth.

CarTrawler offers a truly unique proposition to its online travel partners, enabling them to optimise the revenue potential from car rental through offering end customers access to an unrivalled breadth of rental options across many suppliers.

Tooth added that CarTrawler’s management team has been “truly visionary in building the technology platform”.

CarTrawler was set up by Niall and Greg Turley in 2004 and in 2012 the pair made a reported €90 million between them when they sold their shares to ECI Partners.

The company employs 180 graduates at its Dundrum base and is one of Ireland’s leading technology employers recruiting from universities.

Read: 75 new jobs announced in Irish tech firm >

Read: 30 new jobs at Cork tech firm >

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More