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American Express GBT Just Got a Bunch of New Investors — So What Now?


Skift Take

American Express GBT continues to dominate the travel management space, and this new money will only accelerate its growth.

Big, legacy travel management companies are growing, snapping up smaller travel agencies as they seek to expand across the globe. American Express Global Business Travel is the largest of all of these companies — at least when it comes to transaction volume — and it will likely keep its top spot for a while.

The company announced Tuesday it was signing a recapitalization agreement, bringing on a bunch of new investors with new money and new ideas. While American Express still holds a controlling stake in the company, a group of investors led by Certares is jumping on board, bringing the total valuation of the company up to about $5 billion.

This money means American Express GBT can spend even more on technology, a major goal for the company. Greg O’Hara, the founder and senior managing director of Certares, told Skift that new mergers and acquisitions, and investment in advanced tech, is definitely on the horizon.

Read this story, and many more, below.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet @ikcarey.

Isaac Carey, Travel Reporter

Featured Stories

Will Anything Change at American Express GBT With New Investor Money? The travel management company’s now valued at $5 billion, but so far its strategy seems pretty much the same: make acquisitions, especially in tech.

Ridehailing Competition Delivers Fatal Blow to Airport Transport Service SuperShuttle: This is yet another casualty of the Uber and Lyft era. Other airport shuttle services will likely be next.

JetBlue Founder David Neeleman Selects Salt Lake City as Headquarters for New Airline: Utah has always been a fine place to base a regional airline. But it’s an unusual spot to build what is almost certainly going to be a nationwide carrier. But with technology, founder David Neeleman is betting that where an airline is headquartered no longer matters.

What the UK Election Result Means for Travel and Tourism: Boris Johnson wants to get Brexit done, but in reality leaving the European Union will be a long and arduous process — and ultimately leave the country poorer. It’s going to be a rocky few years for the UK’s travel and tourism industry.

The Future Of Travel

Boeing Will Stop Making 737 Max Jets as Crisis Continues: You had to think this was going to happen. At some point, Boeing was going to run out of parking lots to store new, grounded jets.

How Tiny Sun Country Struck an Unlikely Deal With Amazon to Transport Packages: Sun Country is America’s smallest airline that operates big jets, like Boeing 737s. It competes in a scale business, so it is always at a disadvantage. The good news is that management has been prioritizing innovation.

Zeus Raises $55 Million for Extended-Stay Rentals: Travel Startup Funding:Travel startups announced more than $139 million in funding for concepts including extended-stay corporate housing, short-term rental-style pop-up hotels, co-living spaces, and landing ports for flying taxis.

Travel Reporter Isaac Carey [[email protected]] curates the Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Thursday.

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