Car Rental Listings Service CarTrawler Gets Debt Relief Thanks to New Private Equity Owner
Skift Take
Investors should be relieved CarTrawler managed to get a deal done at all in today’s tough mergers-and-acquisitions market. The debt write-off has set up the travel tech company for promising momentum.
Squeezed by debt and travel at a near standstill, CarTrawler has struggled. The middleman tech company for car rental bookings urgently needed a cash injection and debt relief.
This week, private equity firm TowerBrook bought CarTrawler, based in Dundrum, Ireland, at an undisclosed fire-sale price from the company's stakeholders BC Partners and Insight Venture Partners.
The companies didn't disclose terms, but TowerBrook said it made an equity investment of more than $110 million (more than €100 million).
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The pandemic's disruption of travel had slammed CarTrawler's revenue. The company has also faced calls for refunds from travelers with canceled trips, but it didn't have enough cash to pay. Starting M