Amex GBT Agrees to Acquire Carlson Wagonlit Travel for $570 Million

American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) is acquiring corporate travel agency Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), for $570 million, marking a new chapter for one of the industry’s longtime corporate giants.

The deal is expected to close sometime in the second half of 2024. The transaction will be funded by a combination of stock and cash.

CWT, which says it serves 4,000 global customers, has been undergoing major changes in recent years, including taking on new equity owners in 2021. As recently as November, CWT underwent some balance sheet recapitalization aimed at deleveraging its balance sheet and strengthening its financial position. At that time, CWT said it had a “strong financial foundation and capital structure.”

In Monday’s announcement, CWT said that moving under Amex GBT will help its long-term vision and that it was “confident” in the future of the company.

“Joining forces with Amex GBT helps accelerate our vision of a tech-enabled future for business travel, where people and technology combine to deliver an exceptional customer experience. We are highly confident in the value creation of the combined company,” CWT CEO Patrick Andersen said.

It also said that, when the deal closes, its clients would have access to Amex GBT’s proprietary software, including programs like Neo1, Neo, and Egencia, and Amex GBT’s professional services.

TMR reached out to CWT to ask about the evolution of the CWT brand when the company does move under Amex GBT, and whether or not the CWT will remain. A spokesperson told TMR that “it’s very early in the process to discuss CWT as a brand. We are all proud of the name we have built in the marketplace and our ancestry. Today, we remain CWT.”

Amex GBT’s CEO Paul Abbot said on Monday that bringing CWT under the Amex banner will “create more choice for customers, more opportunities for people, and more value for shareholders.”

CWT traces its roots back to 1872 when a Belgian innovator Georges Nagelmackers, who went on to create the Orient Express, founded Wagons-Lits, which means “sleeping cars.”