European corporate travel booking platform Travel Park has acquired Chicago-based startup AmTrav to help it further expand in the U.S. market, the company told CNBC. To fund the acquisition and Travel Park's broader expansion efforts, the company raised $135 million in debt financing from private equity firms Blackstone and Blue Owl. Travel Park CEO and co-founder Avi Meir said the acquisition will make the U.S. its largest revenue-generating region by 2026.
LONDON — European corporate travel booking platform TravelPerk has acquired Chicago-based startup AmTrav to help it further expand in the United States, it told CNBC on Tuesday.
AmTrav, which operates in the same sector as TravelPerk, will continue to operate under the same brand and all of its team will continue in their businesses.
The company also raised $135 million in debt financing from private equity firms Blackstone and Blue Owl to fund the deal and Travel Park's broader expansion.
Travel Park CEO and co-founder Avi Meir told CNBC that the acquisition will allow the company to accelerate its growth in the U.S. He expects the acquisition will double Travel Park's U.S. revenue and make the U.S. its largest revenue-generating region by 2026.
“The UK is our largest market right now,” Meir said in an interview with CNBC, noting that the company's 2021 acquisition of British corporate travel startup Click Travel served as a catalyst for its growth there.
Going forward, Meir said Travel Park's acquisition of Amtrav will help support its “intense localization strategy” in the U.S. and allow it to offer customers “better rates and inventory options” through deeper relationships with suppliers.
He added that AmTrav has had data exchange agreements with major airlines American Airlines and Southwest Airlines for many years.
Travel Park currently has more than 200 employees in the U.S. and plans to grow its U.S. workforce by another 35% by the end of 2024. The company has more than 1,200 employees worldwide. Last year, the company's U.S. revenue grew 65% year over year.
The World Business Travel Association estimates that the U.S. corporate travel sector will be worth $329 billion in 2023.
Travel Park said it will expand its U.S. office footprint to include AmTrav's offices in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami. Travel Park did not disclose financial terms of the transaction.
Two years of M&A negotiations
AmTrav CEO Jeff Cree told CNBC the company has been in negotiations with Travel Park since 2021, adding that he was reluctant to sell the company he founded without assurances that the acquisition would not affect the company's operations.
“To me, the bar was pretty high to get the deal done,” Currie told CNBC in an interview. “One thing they have in common is they're both software companies at heart, but they both recognize that travel is still a big service component in the travel industry.”
“Travelers want to do everything themselves, whether it’s when they get to the airport or when a hurricane comes. [or other disruptions]you need someone to get you out of that mess… [so] Service points are very important.”
All Amtrav employees will remain with the company, remain part of their current teams and report to the same direct managers, Cree said.
He joked that the only difference would be that for the first time in 35 years, he and co-founder Craig Fichtelberg will have a boss: Travel Park's CEO.
Adding in an additional $135 million from Blackstone and Blue Owl, the company's total funding for 2024 will be $240 million.
Travel Park raised $104 million in January 2024 from investors including SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Blackstone, and Blue Owl.
“We're pleased to provide capital to Travel Park to further advance its global growth strategy,” Kurt Tenenbaum, managing director at Blue Owl Capital, told CNBC.
“Avi and the rest of the executive team have a demonstrated track record of success, and I am excited to see what they can accomplish over the long term.”
Founded in 1989 by co-founders Klee and Fitchtelberg, who met as dorm roommates at the University of Michigan, AmTrav provides localized digital travel management services for small to mid-sized businesses.
How AI is impacting corporate travel
Travel Park said it and AmTrav aim to develop new artificial intelligence capabilities using their proprietary technology.
Meir said he believes AI will encourage more face-to-face interactions, and the company's research found that 38% of CEOs believe AI will increase the need for travel for in-person meetings.
The findings are based on a survey of business travel decision makers, travelers and managers.
“For Travel Park, AI is not about replacing humans, it's about making humans more efficient,” Meir told CNBC. “I believe in human connection, that's why we exist as a company.”
“At TravelPerk, we always focus on a human-centric approach in our AI implementations, automating back-end tasks to give our employees more time to interact with their colleagues, customers and partners.”
TravelPerk's clients include Betterment, Adyen, Wise and Red Bull. AmTrav has over 1,000 corporate clients.
TravelPerk's platform allows users to book business flights, hotels, trains and cars in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Portugal, India, Singapore, Mexico, Dubai and Israel.
TravelPerk's existing investors include SoftBank, General Catalyst, Kinnevik, Greyhound Capital, Felix Capital, Target Global, LocalGlobe, Spark Capital and Heartcore.
