KKR Acquires Trainline, Financial Details Not Disclosed

KKR

, today announced the acquisition of Trainline, the UK's leading online platform for selling rail tickets to both consumers and businesses. Trainline is the most downloaded travel app in the UK and its website ranks 5th by gross transaction value in the UK e-commerce sector. The company has 4.7m active customers, 20.8m visits per month and operates platforms for both consumers and businesses. Trainline is licensed to sell rail tickets on behalf of all UK Train Operating Companies, Deutsche Bahn and Trenitalia. Doug McCallum, Chairman of Trainline, said: “Our vision is to transform Trainline into a leading international ecommerce platform and an indispensable partner of the smartphone-enabled digital mobility landscape. We are excited to be able to accelerate this journey with an experienced and global investment partner like KKR.” Clare Gilmartin, CEO of Trainline said: “Trainline has achieved a lot during our eight years working alongside Exponent to develop the business, and we are well positioned to capitalise on great growth opportunities driven by the systemic shift to online in rail and the step-change in mobile and e-fulfilment, as well as international opportunities. In KKR we have found a partner that can support our expansion with capital, operational resources and access to its global network.” Dominic Murphy, Member and Head of KKR operations in the United Kingdom commented: “The investment in Trainline adds to our track record of partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams to build global companies and industry leaders. Similar to our Alliance Boots investment, we will support a strong investment program leading to a further transformation and strong international expansion of the company.” Philipp Freise, Member and Head of the European Media & Digital investment team at KKR, added: “Trainline is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the significant expected growth in mobile penetration and benefits from a best-in-class leadership team. We are excited about partnering with the team to accelerate Trainline's growth, as we have done in our recent digital-driven investments in BMG, Fotolia and Scout24 Switzerland. KKR supports such companies in their growth ambitions through entrepreneurial capital and access to our worldwide network of companies and domain experts.” KKR has a long established track record of supporting technology companies, having invested more than $13 billion of equity in 49+ companies across software, Internet, media and IT-infrastructure since 2000. This transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Financial details are not being disclosed.