The marriage brings together two major travel sellers. Photo Credit: SmartPhotoLab/Shutterstock.com
Ovation Travel Group s high-touch service attracted not only a growing client base to the agency but a corporate suitor. It has now found a new home as a division of American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), which announced the acquisition of Ovation this month.
The marriage brings together two major travel sellers: Amex GBT is No. 3 on Travel Weekly s 2020 Power List, with $34.1 billion in 2019 sales. Ovation is No. 15, with 2019 sales of $1.6 billion.
Andrew Crawley
Andrew Crawley, Amex GBT s chief commercial officer, said GBT has a strategic agenda to identify client segments where its value proposition is lacking. Ovation filled one of those areas, specifically within the small- and medium-enterprise category.
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American Express Global Business Travel has found a way to grow business with small and medium-sized companies, after acquiring independent agency Ovation Travel Group for an undisclosed amount.
Ovation Travel is headquartered in the U.S. and has offices in the UK, including Chartwell Travel, which specializes in the media and entertainment sector. It also owns the Lawyers Travel brand.
The agency last reported $1.7 billion in annual sales, according to Amex GBT, and has 700 employees plus 200 independent travel advisors. However, in August last year, Paul Metselaar, Ovation Travel chairman and CEO, said 500 employees had been furloughed.
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American Express Global Business Travel has acquired New York-based Ovation
Travel Group, the parent company of Ovation Travel, Lawyers Travel and, in the UK, Chartwell Travel, the travel management company announced on Thursday.
The
purchase by GBT is a major move in what could well be an active mergers
and acquisitions environment in 2021 for travel management companies.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Ovation Travel Group and its employees will
become a division of GBT s global customer partnerships organisation and will continue to be led by Ovation chairman and CEO Paul Metselaar and
the current executive team.