Carlyle and Credit Lyonnais exit Egencia

The Carlyle Group and Crédit Lyonnais Private Equity have exited their investment in French Internet travel company Egencia generating an IRR of over 30%. The company has been sold to InterActiveCorp (IAC), owner of US Internet travel form Expedia.

Carlyle and Crédit Lyonnais Private Equity first invested in Egencia in 2000 and 2001, respectively, and co-led the company’s final financing round in 2003. The Carlyle Group funded its investment in Egencia from Carlyle Europe Venture Partners fund (CEVP), which focuses on technology investments in Europe. This is the first CEVP exit in 2004.

Crédit Lyonnais Private Equity funded their investment in Egencia from two venture funds: Crédit Lyonnais Innovation 2 and Crédit Lyonnais Venture 1.

Egencia is an online business travel service in France headquartered in Paris and has additional operations in Belgium and the UK. The company now has over 500 corporate customers.

Fabien Prévost, member of the supervisory board of Egencia and senior partner at Crédit Lyonnais Private Equity, said: “Starting from scratch, [Egencia] has gained a significant market share of the corporate travel market in little over three years, in a highly competitive and concentrated context and in a difficult economic situation.”