TravelPerk Acquires AmTrav, Doubling U.S. Revenue

TravelPerk said Tuesday that it has acquired Chicago-based AmTrav, making the U.S. the corporate travel tech startup’s top region for revenue. 

Barcelona-based TravelPerk said the deal adds 1,000 new small- and medium-sized business clients, and doubles its revenue in the U.S.

Previously, the U.S. was TravelPerk’s second-largest market after the UK, the company said.

The price of the deal was not disclosed. 

The deal was backed by a newly announced credit facility of up to $135 million, led by asset management groups Blackstone Credit & Insurance and Blue Owl Credit.

TravelPerk clients book and manage corporate travel through a software platform that can be integrated with others they may use. TravelPerk is focused on mid-tier and smaller companies, with clients that include Wise, Revolut, Redbull, GetYourGuide, and Aesop. It’s focused on expanding in the U.S. and Europe.

TravelPerk in January had 1,200 employees, including about 700 at its headquarters in Barcelona. AmTrav had around 130 employees in 2022, according to Travel Weekly.

TravelPerk said its grew revenue 70% in 2023, and gross profit increased by more than 90% as booking volumes approached $2 billion.

AmTrav did $285.3 million in sales in 2022 and was 36th on the Travel Weekly Power list of global travel sellers.

What’s Next for AmTrav

The AmTrav leadership team and employees will maintain their positions, with no layoffs planned, according to TravelPerk communications director Maryline Goldman in an email.

There’s a combined employee count of 200 in the U.S., with plans to increase that number by 35% this year, Goldman stated.

AmTrav will continue to operate as before, with no plans to sunset its tech. TravelPerk will revisit whether to integrate the tech in the next two to three years, Goldman stated.

TravelPerk acquired UK-based Click Travel and U.S.-based NexTravel 2021, along with risk management startup Albatross in 2020.

Business Travel Consolidation 

TravelPerk in January raised $104 million, an extension of previous rounds for $115 million and $160 million. The company said that that funding alongside the new credit facility will go toward driving growth, both organically and via acquisition. 

Jean-Christophe Taunay-Bucalo, chief operating officer for TravelPerk, said in a recent interview with Skift that he expects more mergers and acquisitions in business travel generally.

“There will continue to be consolidation in the business travel market because you have an extremely high barrier to entry with a fundamental product,” he said.

The AmTrav deal is part of a string of business travel acquisition news this year. 

Steve Singh, co-founder of Concur, said in April that he and a group of firms acquired Direct Travel. Amex GBT in March shared its plans to acquire CWT for $570 million. And Corporate Travel Management said in a February earnings call that it would be considering more acquisitions.

The Travelperk-AmTrav deal is the latest in a big group of travel tech companies — which also includes Navan Group — that have made at least 16 acquisitions over the past couple of months alone.