American Express Global Business Travel to Acquire Hogg Robinson Group

American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) is acquiring U.K.-based Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), merging two of the leading global corporate travel management companies.

Hogg Robinson said GBT would pay approximately $550 million to acquire all of HRG’s stock, pending antitrust and other regulatory approvals. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.

Experts estimate that American Express is about twice the size of HRG in total travel sales, and that the combined entities would represent about $45 billion in annual travel bookings. The acquisition will distance American Express even further from its next largest travel management competitors, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and BCD Travel.

However, when considering total travel sales, the new company will still lag significantly behind Expedia and Priceline, which hold the first and second positions in combined business and leisure travel sales.

Doug Anderson, American Express GBT CEO, said: “The complementary geographical footprints of each company will improve the global scale and reach of our business, enabling us to achieve efficiencies across a best-in-class platform and accelerate growth. The technology roadmaps of each business provide a powerful platform from which to drive future innovation. We will deliver a superior client and traveler experience through fully integrated travel management solutions, including booking and expense management products.”

“I am particularly excited and heartened by American Express GBT’s reassurance that it will be utilizing the best talent and technology from within both organizations to create a truly world-class, leading-edge organization, which will bring benefits to our clients, colleagues and supplier partners alike,” said David Radcliffe, HRG CEO.