Investment and technology firm Long Lake said on Monday it would buy corporate travel operator American Express Global Business Travel for $6.3 billion in an all-cash deal, betting that artificial intelligence can reshape the sector’s future.
Confidence in dealmaking is showing signs of improvement as markets return to normality following a roller-coaster ride in the weeks after the start of the Iran war.
Amex GBT – a software and services company for travel, expense, and meetings and events – is operated by Global Business Travel Group.
Long Lake, with backing from investment firms General Catalyst and Alpha Wave, will pay Amex GBT shareholders $9.50 per share, or a 60.2% premium over Global Business Travel’s closing price on May 1, the last full trading day before the deal.
The deal involving Long Lake is a bet on artificial intelligence to modernize the business travel sector. The company has acquired and partnered with dozens of services firms, seeking to drive growth and enhance customer experience through its proprietary Nexus AI transformation platform.
“The future of business travel will be defined by AI and human agents working seamlessly together on behalf of every traveler: faster booking times, proactive disruption resolution, and frictionless travel administration,” Long Lake CEO Alex Taubman said in a statement.
Source: Economic Times