American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has announced it will acquire German firm DER Business Travel, the corporate arm of the DER Touristik Group.
The purchase would expand Amex GBT’s footprint into Germany’s small and mid-sized client sector, while DER’s existing travel management offering would be enhanced by GBT’s international scale and global network.
In addition, DER’s clients would gain access to Amex GBT’s travel and expense ecosystem and core technology platform.
The German firm’s corporate business is headquarter in Frankfurt and operates in 42 locations across Germany with around 600 employees.
The acquisition is subject to antitrust approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019.
Elyes Mrad, Amex GBT’s senior vice president and managing director, international, said: “Given the complementary nature of our businesses, the acquisition is a great opportunity for everyone involved. GBT services many global and multinational clients, while DER is focused on small to medium-sized enterprises trading in Germany.”
DER’s MD Mark Tanz added: “This is a special moment for DER Business Travel, its employees and its clients. GBT and DER are both people-driven organisations with a passion for providing the best technology and service to clients. With GBT’s scale and proprietary tech stack and our expertise and relationships in Germany, this is a real opportunity to offer a new, collective value proposition to German businesses.”
The announcement comes nearly a year after Amex GBT completed its acquisition of HRG, forming the number one TMC in the UK according to the BBT Leading 50 TMCs list.
amexglobalbusinesstravel.com; derbusinesstravel.com