CarTrawler chief executive Peter O’Donovan said the travel tech company’s private equity owner, TowerBrook Capital, remains “very committed” to its investment, three years after stepping in with an emergency €100 million funding deal during the pandemic.
Mr O’Donovan made the comment in an interview with The Irish Times as CarTrawler, which makes software used by airlines and travel agents to connect to car-hire companies, revealed it returned to profit in the financial year to last September as revenues doubled amid a rebound in travel globally.
“TowerBrook are a very committed investor,” said Mr O’Donovan, when asked about recent media speculation that the London and New York-based private equity firm is preparing to put its majority stake on the market.
What are the big challenges facing the aviation sector post-pandemic?
“They’re delighted with their investment and there are no plans at present for a sale. The typical holding period for private equity is three to five years. At some point in the cycle, we will look for new investment. But at the moment it is really about executing against the strategy and going after opportunities in the market.”
CarTrawler, which works the likes of EasyJet, Emirates, United Airlines, Uber, American Express Travel, and network of more than 2,200 car rental and mobility suppliers in more than 150 countries, saw its turnover double to €165.5 million in its last financial year, even as the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus affected travel during the first half.
The company, which is registered under the name Etrawler Unlimited, swung into a €2.78 million pretax profit from a loss of €23 million for the previous year, according to the latest set of results.
CarTrawler, which was set up in 2004 by brothers Greg and Niall Turley, generates revenues mainly through the provision of introductory services to car rental companies globally, under the Holiday Autos and Argus Car Hire brands and working with partners using its web-based booking engine technology.
Mr O’Donovan, who was promoted to the chief executive role last October, said the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) is set to grow by at least 10 to15 per cent per year over the next two to three years, compared to a figure in excess of €20 million last year.
The business is being propelled by rebounding airline travel, the signing of new partners — where activity in the past three years has been busier than at any time in the company’s history, despite the pandemic — and growing business with existing clients, he said.
Airlines globally have a greater focus on building ancillary revenues — including car hire offerings — in the wake of the pandemic, he said.
Pick-up in travel
Meanwhile, CarTrawler data shows that car rental prices have come back by 35 to 40 per cent in recent months from a spike in 2022, when there was a sharp pick-up in travel at a time when cars in rental fleets had been run down to 60 to 70 per cent of their pre-pandemic levels.
“Prices are still 40 per cent higher than 2019, which itself would have marked the end of a 10-year downward cycle in pricing,” he said. “We’d expect prices to moderate by a further 10 per cent next year.”
CarTrawler, based in Dundrum, south Dublin, employs 415 people, 95 per cent of whom are based in the Republic.
TowerBrook’s €100 million deal to invest in CarTrawler in May 2020 left the company’s then-owners of six years, BC Partners of London and Insight Venture Partners of New York, nursing large losses as they exit a business they had acquired in a debt-backed €450 million deal. CarTrawler has no debt.
