European TMC TravelPerk has acquired US-based AmTrav in a bid to ¡°accelerate¡± its expansion in the US.

Avi Meir, TravelPerk¡¯s co-founder and CEO, announced the deal to acquire the US travel management platform in an online post on the Barcelona-based firm¡¯s website. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

¡°Backed by an additional $135 million in capital via credit facilities from Blackstone and Blue Owl Capital, we are thrilled to announce that?we have acquired AmTrav, a US-focused, tech-first travel management platform,¡± said Meir.

¡°AmTrav co-founders Jeff [Klee] and Craig [Fichtelberg] founded the business 30 years ago in their University of Michigan dorm room and transformed it into a US leader in business travel.

¡°Whilst getting to know them, it was clear to me that they share the same dedication to innovation as TravelPerk. Like us, they are customer-obsessed. Philosophically, we are completely aligned on our approach of leveraging AI and technology to make travelling for work simpler and smarter.¡±

Meir added that both TravelPerk and AmTrav would continue to ¡°operate independently in the near term¡±.

¡°We will have more exciting news to share on all the product and technology innovation that¡¯s coming for all of our customers as a result of the powerful partnership,¡± said Meir.

TravelPerk was ranked as the eighth largest TMC in Europe in the list of Europe¡¯s Leading TMCs 2024 with gross European sales of €1 billion in 2023.?

AmTrav is based in Chicago and also has offices in?Boston, Los Angeles and Miami. The acquisition will double TravelPerk¡¯s US revenue, which had already been boosted by a 65 per cent year-on-year increase in 2023.

Jeff Klee, AmTrav¡¯s CEO, said in a letter to the company¡¯s customers that they were ¡°super excited¡± about the deal.

¡°I want to assure you that it will stay business as usual at AmTrav,¡± said Klee. ¡°We will continue operating as we always have. Despite having a new parent company, we¡¯re keeping our brand name, we¡¯re keeping our booking tool, and most importantly, we¡¯re keeping our team.¡±

Klee also revealed that TravelPerk had first approached AmTrav in 2021 but they ¡°didn¡¯t feel any urgency to sell¡± at that point.

He stressed the importance of both companies having their own technology stacks and predicted that the number of TMCs would ¡°dramatically shrink in the next five years¡±.

¡°In TravelPerk we found a kindred spirit with a very similar mission, culture and thirst for innovation,¡± added Klee. ¡°Ultimately, though, it was the TravelPerk people ¨C their passion, energy, creativity and decency ¨C from Avi on down, that won us over.¡±