CarTrawler purchased Paris insurtech Koala last year.
Expedia Group is acquiring Irish travel-tech CarTrawler to advance its goals of providing “the most complete” B2B travel platform. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded and headquartered in Dublin, CarTrawler connects more than 1,000 car rental suppliers and mobility providers with more than 300 travel brands, including more than 70 airlines.
“CarTrawler’s acquisition by Expedia Group is a testament to the strength of our technology, the drive of our people, our track record of innovation and our accelerating commercial momentum,” said Peter O’Donovan, CarTrawler’s CEO.
Alfonso Paredes, the president of B2B and chief commercial officer at Expedia Group said: “The CarTrawler acquisition is another huge, exciting step towards our ambition of building the most complete B2B travel platform.” The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.
Expedia acquired Amsterdam-based global platform for activities and experiences Tiqets last December.
“Acquiring Tiqets helped us solve for activities at scale. Adding CarTrawler now extends that same strategy into car rentals, ground transport and Insurtech,” Paredes added. Last August CarTrawler acquired Paris-based B2B insurtech Koala to enter into the insurtech vertical.
Expedia’s latest deal comes after CarTrawler was first acquired by investment firm TowerBrook in 2020 after going through financial struggles resulting from the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on the global travel industry.
Gordon Holmes, the chief investment officer at TowerBrook said: “We invested in CarTrawler in July 2020, confident that it would emerge from Covid-related industry dislocation as an industry champion.”
“The performance over the last six years, driven by innovation and commercial excellence, has exceeded all expectations.” TowerBrook had made a controlling equity investment of more than €100m into CarTrawler.
A year following the bailout in 2020, CarTrawler created 50 new roles in Dublin as part of a €10m investment package.
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