Priceline.com has acquired TravelJigsaw, a UK-based online travel agent specializing in car rental. No financial terms were disclosed. The seller was ISIS Private Equity, which sponsored a £25 million management buyout of TravelJigsaw in 2005. Livingstone managed the sale process.
PRESS RELEASE
Livingstone, the leading independent, international investment banking firm, announced that it successfully advised the majority shareholders of TravelJigsaw on the Company’s sale to US online travel giant Priceline.com. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
TravelJigsaw is a UK based online travel agent specializing in car rental. The Company sells into 31 markets worldwide and customers can pick up vehicles from over 4,000 locations in 80 countries.
US based Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) provides online travel services in over 94 countries; offering customers more ways to save on their travel purchases than any other Internet travel service. “We believe that TravelJigsaw will be a valuable addition to our group of fast-growing international businesses,” said Priceline.com President and CEO Jeffery H. Boyd.
Founded by CEO Greg Wills in 2005, TravelJigsaw has grown rapidly ever since. Wills led a £25m management buy-out of TravelJigsaw in June 2008 with the help of Livingstone and from private equity firm ISIS. The sale to Priceline provides ISIS with a full exit, while the management team retains a minority stake.
Wills commented that: “Less than two years ago Livingstone secured majority ownership of TravelJigsaw for the management team, and since then have consistently provided us with strategic advice and direction. Their input on the exit was key and I can’t speak highly enough of them.”
TravelJigsaw is the latest Leisure sector deal from Livingstone’s Consumer team, following the December 2009 buy-out of online ski specialist Iglu.com, the April 2009 sale of Advantage Rent a Car to Hertz, and the 2008 buyout of Education & Adventure Travel by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners.
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