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Mergers and acquisitions in the corporate travel space look set to continue, even after the roller-coaster year that was 2021. Now Berlin's Comtravo, a Microsoft-backed travel agency, is selling up.
Travel management startup TripActions has made another acquisition, this time buying Berlin-based Comtravo.
This latest foray follows its acquisition of UK agency Reed & Mackay in May last year. The Silicon Valley company has paid a reported €60 million ($68.7 million) for the agency, according to German media, but this has been denied by TripActions, which told Skift that as a private company it does not disclose the terms of its investments.
Travel management company startup Comtravo, which was also founded in 2015, serves the German, Austrian, Swiss and Scandinavian regions. It has a specialization in invoicing and tax technology, which TripActions said would contribute to its own end-to-end platform, while the deal doubles the number of consultants available to assist travelers in Europe.
After the deal, TripActions said it will be supporting 7,500 customers. Half of the group’s business now resides in Europe and the UK, it added.
Comtravo is backed by investors including the Microsoft Venture Fund and Deutsche Bank. Other investors include Jan Valentin, the former head of Europe at Kayak. To date, Comtravo has raised $43 million in funding, according to TechCrunch.
There have been several deals in the corporate travel space over the past year, including the sale of Will Smith-backed TravelBank to U.S. Bancorp for $200 million in November. TripActions has raised a total of $1.3 billion to date, following a Series F raise of $275 million in October last year, which it claimed gave it a post-money valuation of $7.25 billion.
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Tags: corporate travel, europe, germany, mergers and acquisitions, travelbank, tripactions
Photo credit: Berlin startup Comtravo, which was founded in 2015, serves the German, Austrian, Swiss and Scandinavian regions. Claudio Schwarz / Unsplash