Skyscanner
Country: United Kingdom
Region: Scotland
Investors: Scottish Equity Partners (SEP)
Private equity helped build Skyscanner into a leading global travel search business based in Edinburgh and with offices across the world. When Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) made its initial investment in 2007, revenues were less than £1 million per annum. SEP supported the company’s growth and strategic development and in 2015 revenues reached £120 million.
Skyscanner employs over 800 people worldwide and has more than 60 million customers every month who use the company’s free and unbiased service to plan and book directly from millions of travel options at the best prices.
The company was acquired by NASDAQ listed travel company Ctrip in December 2016 for approximately £1.4 billion.
770
staff employed with 10 global offices
120%
growth in revenues over 8 years
What did the business need?
Investment to develop a website to collate and compare prices for commercial flights across the world
To expand its services to include hotels and car hire
To create a global business with a significant share of the online travel market
How did private equity backing create lasting value?
Funded the development of a technology platform and extended reach across airlines globally
Participated on the company’s board and contributed to strategic development
Supported Skyscanner through key domestic and international acquisitions
Launched Skyscanner for Business, offering white label solutions to more than 400 corporate partners
Helped raise £128 million from five new investors to support global growth
What outcomes did private equity investment achieve?
Developed global site: now available in over 30 languages
Launched mobile app that has been downloaded over 40 million times
Built global customer base: more than 60 million people use Skyscanner every month
Created 280 jobs in 2015 alone with offices across Europe, the US and Asia
Attracted over 400 partners including MSN, flybe, Yahoo!Japan and Condé Nast Traveller
Achieved double-digit revenue growth for seven years: Skyscanner revenues for 2015 were £120m
Secured exit to NASDAQ listed travel company Ctrip for approximately £1.4 billion
Investors
