One of the largest online travel investments of the year in Europe, after the Opodo deal, has closed with Palamon Capital Partners taking a majority stake in EnGrande, owner of BudgetPlaces.
London-based Palamon has not disclosed exact terms or the value of the deal, but it is said to be in the region of Euro 30 million.
EnGrande was established in 2003 by founder and CEO John Erceg, initially as a budget accommodation booking service for the city of Barcelona.
The company has since grown to include around 7,000 hotels around Europe and has a network of 30 city websites such as London30 and Amsterdam30. The flagship brand is the BudgetPlaces site and the company has offices in Barcelona, New York and Dublin, with 85 staff.
News of the investment comes the same day as accommodation site EasyToBook sold to BCD Holdings for an undisclosed fee. Other major Eurupean deals this year include Amadeus selling Opodo for Euro 450 million to AXA and Permira.
EnGrande says it processes more than Euro 80 million in bookings each year.
Other Palamon investments include broadcast technology supplier OmniBus Systems and the Star Parks theme park group.