Travel technology group ATCORE has been sold by private equity firm LDC in an undisclosed deal to Inflexion Private Equity.
ATCORE, which is headquartered in Slough, provides reservation and eCommerce solutions for global travel companies and specialist tour operators.
Through its Atcom platform, the firm designs, builds and maintains inventory, pricing, booking and distribution software for the likes of Thomas Cook and TUI. It also serves specialist travel operators through its Tigerbay platform.
In May 2014, LDC backed the business in the £45m management buyout of Anite Travel from its listed parent Anite, rebranding as ATCORE.
Three years later, ATCORE generates revenues of £26m and has grown earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to £8.2m.
“It was important for us to firmly establish our own identity after we become an independent entity, and we have worked closely with LDC to expand into new markets and invest in our suite of products,” said ATCORE chief executive Dave Cruickshank.
“The funding and guidance from LDC has been instrumental in seeing through what has been an incredible period of transformation and growth for the company.
“As we enter the next stage of our journey, we look forward to working with the team at Inflexion who will support us as we maximise new growth opportunities in the international market.”
The transaction was led by investment director David Bains and Andy Lyndon, head of LDC in the Midlands.
Lyndon said: “The last three years have seen ATCORE achieve strong organic growth that has been boosted by a number of milestone achievements. The acquisition of Tigerbay enabled the business to diversify and develop new products, and new senior hires provided added firepower to accelerate growth.
“These strategic developments have seen ATCORE emerge as a leading platform provider in the industry, and the business is now well positioned to continue its growth journey in the expanding travel and tourism market.”
LDC was advised by Deloitte Corporate Finance and Gowling, with vendor due diligence completed by PwC.