In the
third
major consolidation in business travel in just three months, Barcelona-based
travel management company TravelPerk
is acquiring one of its competitors – Chicago-based AmTrav – in a deal that brings together two of
corporate travel’s most forthright leaders, TravelPerk co-founder and CEO Avi
Meir and AmTrav co-founder and CEO Jeff Klee.

TravelPerk
is not disclosing financial terms of the acquisition but said the deal is
backed by a new $135 million credit facility it has received from Blackstone
Credit & Insurance and Blue Owl Credit, two global alternative asset
managers. In January, TravelPerk
raised $104 million in a Series D1 extension funding round led by Softbank
Vision Fund 2 that valued the company at $1.4 billion.

In
addition, TravelPerk said the AmTrav brand will remain, with founders Klee and
Craig Fichtelberg still in the roles of CEO and COO, respectively, and the
entire AmTrav team staying on. The acquisition
gives TravelPerk 1,200 employees globally, with now 200 in the United States –
in cities including Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and Miami – and plans to grow
its U.S. employee count by about 35% this year as it accelerates growth in the
region.

Klee
and Fichtelberg started their careers in travel while still in college in 1989,
creating what would becoming CheapAir.com,
which according to its website is no longer operating. Then in 2005 they moved
into business travel with the launch of AmTrav, created as a technology-focused
platform for small- and medium sized business and mid-market companies.

Founded
in 2015, TravelPerk said it already had 65% year-over-year growth in the U.S.
in 2023, and this acquisition will make the U.S. its top revenue-generating
region, fueled by integration of the two brands’ proprietary technology and
artificial intelligence capabilities. 

“I’m thrilled to welcome Jeff, Craig and AmTrav to the TravelPerk
team, as they bring a shared dedication to innovation and providing solutions
that customers love,” Meir said.

“Their decades-long track record of success in the U.S. will
supercharge our growth in the U.S. and around the world. And with the financial
backing of world-class investors in Blackstone and Blue Owl, in addition to
SoftBank earlier this year, we’re exceptionally well positioned to continue to
invest in industry-leading technology and our global growth.” 

And
said Klee, “I’ve admired TravelPerk for a long time and the more I’ve gotten to
know Avi and his team, the more I’ve seen what kindred spirits our companies
are. AmTrav’s customers will benefit from TravelPerk’s global reach, scale and
culture of innovation. Together, we’ll continue the mission to use new
technology and the right amount of human touch to make life better for
businesses and their travelers. Craig and I couldn’t be more excited to join
this immensely talented team.”

Klee
has been a vocal advocate for innovation in the business travel space and for years
has described the
traditional flight distribution model as “broken.” AmTrav began selling NDC
content through a direct connection with American Airlines dating back to 2019,
and in the last year as American moved to accelerate its focus on NDC, Klee
was one of its loudest proponents on social media and at industry events. Last
month, as American announced the departure
of chief commercial officer Vasu Raja and a reversal on some of its NDC
policies, Klee penned an
opinion piece on the deeper meaning of the news.

From
the early days of the pandemic, Meir was dogged on social media about his confidence
that business travel would return. In a recent interview
with Softbank Vision Fund posted on that company’s website, Meir explained
that while other travel companies had layoffs, TravelPerk kept all of the 450 employees
it had at the start of the pandemic by moving them into different roles, which
he described as a reflection of the company’s core value of taking care of its
team members.

According
to its website, TravelPerk provides business travel services to thousands of
companies, including GetYourGuide, Workable, Typeform, Adyen, Volotea and more.