The acquisition by the young, artificial intelligence business Long Lake is being supported by private equity investment from the likes of General Catalyst, Alpha Wave and Koch Equity Development. Both General Catalyst and Alpha Wave are already invested in Long Lake.
“Our customers have always been at the heart of Amex GBT, and this partnership with Long Lake is about serving them even better,” said Amex GBT CEO, Paul Abbott.
“General Catalyst and Alpha Wave, among Long Lake’s world-class investors, have backed some of the most successful technology companies in the world.
“Together with Long Lake’s applied AI capabilities and our travel expertise, global scale and trusted customer and supplier relationships built over decades, Amex GBT is driving the transformation of business travel.
“This transaction is a testament to the value of Amex GBT, the success of our strategy and the strength of our incredible team,” said Abbott.
“This agreement delivers a compelling outcome for our shareholders, providing them a substantial, certain cash value at an attractive premium.
Amex GBT shareholders will be bought out at US$9.50 per share, a significant rise on the company’s closing stock price prior the announcement of the acquisition, which was US$5.93 per share.
“The future of business travel will be defined by AI and human agents working seamlessly together on behalf of every traveller: faster booking times, proactive disruption resolution, and frictionless travel administration,” said Long Lake co-founder and CEO, Alex Taubman.
“In partnership with Long Lake, Amex GBT will continue to invest heavily in these capabilities and continue to set the gold standard for customer excellence.”
Ken Chenault, the managing director of General Catalyst and the former CEO of American Express, said “the foundation of the Long Lake model is a strong commitment to extraordinary customer service for the modern era”.
The acquisition is expected to complete this year.
Significant shareholders representing 69 per cent of Amex GBT’s ownership have already indicated that they support the acquisition.
