Australian travel management company Corporate Travel Management has agreed to purchase Travel & Transport for US$200.4 million, it was announced on Tuesday morning. Radius Travel, the global travel agency network purchased in 2018 by Travel and Transport, is included in the deal.
The deal gives CTM, one of the largest TMCs in Australia, a larger presence in the United States than it has ever had. The companies' joint 2019 total sales were about US$7.6 billion, according to the TMCs, which would make the combined entity one of the world's largest TMCs.
It's also the largest TMC deal in the US business travel industry since the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically reduced travel volumes, a time when some travel executives have predicted consolidation.
Both brands are present in the UK market. In BTN Europe's most recent Leading 50 TMCs, CTM was ranked at number 5 with £645 million of UK sales and Travel and Transport at number 15 with £200.2 million; the deal is likely to see them leapfrog BCD Travel and FCM into third.
Travel and Transport entered the UK market in 2017 with the purchase of Statesman Travel. The Statesman brand was dropped earlier this year.
Debbie Carling, CEO of CTM Europe, said: "CTM is thrilled to welcome the Travel and Transport team to our US, UK and European operations. As a combined business, we are excited to provide enhanced support to transatlantic corporate customers with extended reach across UK/Europe and east coast gateways, as well as offering fantastic value from the Radius global hotel programme."
Integration of Omaha-based Travel and Transport into CTM already is underway, a process that "will happen quickly due to the current reduced customer activity, allowing the combined business to emerge from Covid-19 in a strong competitive position," the companies said in a statement.
Travel and Transport will be rebranded as CTM, according to the companies. Travel and Transport CEO Kevin O'Malley will serve as North America CEO of the combined company, and president and COO Tim Fleming will serve as president and integration lead.
O'Malley told BTN Europe: "CTM is very large in the UK and Europe. Travel and Transport’s people and operations will fold into CTM as part of this transaction. We will continue to have operations in the City of London to service our clients there and we expect the overall offering to our clients will be even better than it was before. We are excited about this powerful combination for both our employees and our customers."
The companies cited "strong cultural alignment" as a driver of the deal, as well as the expansion of CTM's footprint in North America.
"For North American customers, the enlarged business offers an expanded and highly experienced team and technology suite, bolstered by CTM's strengths in Europe and Asia Pacific," according to the companies. "CTM comes into this in a very strong liquidity position with no debt, US$88 million of net cash and an undrawn committed facility of approximately US$127 million."
CTM North America CEO and COO Maureen Brady, who will serve as COO of CTM North America, said in a statement: "The acquisition will give CTM optimal scale in North America to create revenue synergies and new client benefits by leveraging increased buying power and the best of our technology, analytics and customer insights across the wider business."
The inclusion of Radius in the deal, a travel agency network that offers corporate hotel rates throughout the world, will enhance CTM's global hotel offering, according to the companies.
Additional reporting by Mark Frary