American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), a company American Express spun off in 2014 but retains a 50% interest in, has announced it would acquire Egencia from Expedia Group. Egencia is Expedia’s corporate travel arm, so the two businesses do make a natural fit.
While the exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, Expedia will become a shareholder in GBT as compensation for the transaction. GBT has also agreed to continue investing in the Egencia brand rather than completely consolidating it with its own operations.
In a statement, Paul Abbott, GBT’s CEO, said: “Our strategy is to provide customers with unparalleled choice by having the best solutions for each managed travel segment that we serve. In Egencia, we would welcome the industry’s leading digital business travel platform.”
For Expedia, the deal allows the company’s management to be able to focus on optimizing its consumer platform without the distraction of the corporate business. At the same time, the ownership stake in GBT will allow the company to participate in any upside generated by the newly combined entity.