Established in 1991 by a team of entrepreneurs, CCS had quickly grown to become the leading fuel charge card issuer in the Czech Republic with terminals in practically every fuel station in the country. It had also made successful in-roads into adjacent countries, occupying the number two position in Slovakia with 50% market coverage. The business served a blue-chip client base including government agencies, large companies and business fleet operators.

Being the first card issuer in Central and Eastern Europe to issue chip cards, CCS enjoyed a reputation for technical excellence. It had also expanded its core offering into several new service areas designed to help its customers better manage their fleet costs.

Recognising the company’s potential, we made a pro-active approach to the business’s owners. “We believed CCS was an excellent opportunity and through our local team made a connection with the owners and persuaded them to sell,” explains Chris Mruck, Advent’s Co-Head of Central and Eastern Europe.

"Although other acquirers were interested in the business, our proposal to bring in an experienced operating partner to help the business grow proved a powerful influencer. Six weeks after the start of the formal sales process, we acquired a majority stake in CCS."

Advent’s plan was for CCS to offer new and better services to existing clients and then use its strong position as a platform to extend its offering to other countries in the region, using the knowledge and experience of our local Advent teams.

“Our original vision was to make the company more efficient and customer-oriented,” explains Chris Mruck. “CCS occupied a very dominant market position but there was plenty of room for operational improvements." Yet in the time it took Advent to complete stage one of the development plan, CCS had already attracted the attention of another buyer, the highly entrepreneurial US business FleetCor.

Established in 2000, FleetCor had become the fastest-growing fuel card issuer and processor in the US and was looking for other European targets, having just acquired a UK company.

“We found we were speaking the same language. They wanted to do what we had planned to do with the business, only as part of a bigger group. FleetCor was offering us a more diversified bet on the same sector that we were so positive on”, says Chris Mruck.

“CCS occupied a very dominant market position and so there was plenty of room to make efficiency savings and increase earnings through more customer focus. We also wanted to introduce some new thinking into an industry in which inflexibility prevailed.”

- Chris Mruck, Advent Managing Partner

A sale to FleetCor offered CCS a fantastic opportunity to be part of a group with ambitions to become the dominant global player in the market. It was a hugely complementary strategic fit. “We hadn’t planned on selling so soon, but we took the pragmatic view that this was the best option for CCS and its development. We felt that FleetCor’s entrepreneurial spirit and management capability would be of great benefit to CCS,” says Chris Mruck. 

Advent now owns a small stake in FleetCor. Having been invited onto the company’s board, we are working together with FleetCor to expand its footprint internationally through organic growth and acquisition. CCS has since acquired Tracker, a leading business fleet GPS monitoring business in the Czech Republic and in addition, the remaining 50% of stock in the Slovak business.  The FleetCor group also acquired three businesses in the UK and continues to look at attractive opportunities in the CEE region.