BC Partners, a European private equity firm, has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in car rental technology platform CarTrawler from the founders, individual shareholders and ECI Partners.

Insight Venture Partners is co-investing in the business by acquiring a minority stake while the management team will be retaining a significant shareholding. Completion of the deal is subject only to competition clearance formalities. Terms of the deal are not disclosed, says CarTrawler.

"I am delighted that we have found new partners in BC Partners, given their considerable experience in developing technology and travel-related businesses,” says Mike McGearty, CEO of CarTrawler. “They have an impressive track record in helping businesses to grow, internationalize and develop to their full potential. We look forward to working closely together with them over the coming years."

BC Partners plans to expand the business through CarTrawler’s presence across international markets, says the company.

“We are very excited to be partnering with the management team at CarTrawler, with a view to fully maximizing the company’s growth potential on a global scale,” says Matthew Tooth, senior partner at BC Partners. “CarTrawler offers a truly unique proposition to its online travel partners, enabling them to optimize the revenue potential from car rental through offering end customers access to an unrivalled breadth of rental options across many suppliers.”

Based in Dublin, Ireland, CarTrawler is a global provider of multi-branded car rental solutions to partners in the travel industry, including airlines, OTAs and other online travel-related operators. It has over 1,000 partners, connecting end customers to more than 1,200 suppliers across 30,000 pickup locations, says the company. In addition, CarTrawler operates car rental websites under the Holiday Autos and Argus Car Hire brands.