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From left, Kimberly Wilson Wetty, Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg, Brian Buttigieg, Valerie Wilson, Richard Leibman, Lara Leibman and Bryan Leibman.
Consolidation among travel agencies was heating up even before the pandemic. And now, more than a year into the Covid-19 crisis, with margins stretched thin, cash in short supply and buyers and sellers both looking to strengthen their competitive positions through mergers, it has become an active marketplace for agencies that have the capital and drive to grow through acquisitions.
Last week, two major acquisitions were announced. Frosch International Travel (No. 14 on Travel Weekly s 2020 Power List) acquired Valerie Wilson Travel (No. 36). Additionally, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT, No. 3) said it plans to acquire Egencia, the corporate-travel arm of No. 1 Expedia Group, pending regulatory approvals.
âA Historic Acquisitionâ: FROSCH and VWT Talk Acquisition
May 06, 2021
From left to right: Kimberly Wilson-Wetty; Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg; Brian Buttigieg; Valerie Wilson; Richard Leibman; Lara Leibman; and Bryan Leibman.
The deal will see VWT operate under the FROSCH umbrella. It will also see the bringing together of two of the travel industry’s most storied families, the Wilsons, led by Valerie Wilson and her children, and the Leibmans, led by Richard Leibman and his children.
Richard and Valerie have a relationship that goes back almost four decades. The two met on a joint advisory board 38 years ago, and the coming together is a natural fit for two second-generation family businesses that have admired each other’s success in the industry.
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Two family businesses: Left, Richard, Lara and Bryan Leibman of Frosch International; right, Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg, Valerie Wilson, Kimberly Wilson Wetty and Brian Buttigeig of Valerie Wilson Travel.
Frosch International Travel has acquired Valerie Wilson Travel, a move that brings together two New York City-based agencies run by two generations of families that built their respective brands into multimillion-dollar travel businesses.
Frosch was No. 14 on Travel Weekly s 2020 Power List, with $2.4 billion in 2019 sales, and Valerie Wilson Travel was No. 36 with $325 million.
Frosch was founded in 1972; chairman Richard Leibman acquired the agency from the Frosch family in 1977. His children Bryan Leibman and Lara Leibman later joined Frosch; Bryan is now president and CEO, and Lara is executive vice president.