Private equity backed travel management company Reed & Mackay has changed hands following five years of growth.
ECI Partners and Livingbridge have sold of their investment in the City of London-based TMC to private equity firm Inflexion for an undisclosed sum.
Inflexion supported a buy out of On the Beach resulting in its IPO in 2015, is an investor in luxury operator Scott Dunn and a former backer of marine travel services firm Griffin Global Group.
Reed & Mackay, which handles business travel for law firms, insurance companies, finance houses and the energy sector, managed almost 600,000 client travel transactions in the year to March.
The company has seen its client base grow by more than 68% to nearly 500 since ECI invested alongside longstanding investor Livingbridge in April 2011 and now has offices in Scotland, the US and the UAE.
Total transaction value passed £200 million for the first time in 2014 and is set to reach almost £250 million this year with staff numbers expected to exceed 400, up from 250 in 2011.
Inflexion said: “This business is now ideally placed to take its market leading service proposition to an increasingly international audience with support and funding from Inflexion, an experienced investor in the travel sector, particularly in backing companies where technology plays a pivotal role in delivering a differentiated service.”
Simon Turner, managing partner at Inflexion, said: “We’re delighted to be investing in Reed & Mackay and working alongside its ambitious team to support the next phase of growth, both in the UK and overseas markets.
“Reed & Mackay is a classic Inflexion investment; great team, superior technology platform and superior service driving exceptional growth.
“We bring experience from across the travel sector both with consumer brands, Scott Dunn and On the Beach, where bespoke technology also played a significant part in growth and differentiation, and corporate travel through Griffin Global Group, all successful multi-national businesses.”
Reed & Mackay chief executive Fred Stratford said: “It has been an enjoyable and rewarding few years working with ECI and Livingbridge to help strengthen Reed & Mackay’s International footprint and to develop the value proposition in line with client demand.
“We have achieved a huge amount together and now I look forward to working the team at Inflexion on our next phase of growth.”