Squire Patton Boggs has represented private equity firm MCI in its record EUR76 million exit from Invia/Travelplanet, the leading e-travel player in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
The cross-border team led by Warsaw Corporate partner Michal Karwacki advised the MCI.TechVentures Fund on the sale of 100 per cent shares in Invia/Travelplanet to Rockaway Capital. In the transaction, valuing Invia at EUR76 million, MCI sold its shares in the company for EUR56 million. It marks a record deal with the highest return on a single investment in the fund’s history.
MCI.TechVentures Fund is focused on growth technology investments in consumer Internet/marketplaces, fintech, mobile and media companies in Western Europe, CEE, Turkey and Russia. It is the largest growth technology fund in Polish market. Since its founding in 2002, Invia has become a leader in e-travel in the CEE market, operating in Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, and working with 350 tour operators. In 2011, the company acquired Travelplanet, leader in the Polish e-travel market, significantly strengthening its position on the Polish market. Rockaway is an investment firm based in San Francisco, Prague and Sao Paolo focused on building the Internet economy in emerging markets via venture capital and private equity.
The Squire Patton Boggs team advising the MCI.TechVentures Fund involved the Warsaw, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Manchester and Leeds offices. It was led by partner Michal Karwacki and included partners Radek Janecek, Jane Haxby, Marcin Wnukowski, Tatiana Prokopova and Akos Eros, together with of counsel Pawel Magierowski and associates Ivan Chalupa and Nicole Jancova, Ewelina Witek, Agnes Budai and Jonathan Ross.
