<B> Agency Buy: WTP Taps FPT</B>
By Sarah Welt
<I>Atlanta, Ga.</I> - In a move to improve its New England presence and accelerate its acquisition strategy, WorldTravel Partners last week acquired Cambridge-based FPT Travel Management Group.
WorldTravel Partners corporate travel and technology president Danny Hood said his agency was not actively looking for an acquisition in the region, but became aware of FPT's strong regional presence when bidding against it for the Gillette account in Boston and the Unum Corp. account in Portland, Me. "When we entered the Boston market it became evident we'd be good partners and it evolved from there," said Hood.
FPT, a $60 million volume agency, was not actively looking to sell either, Hood said, but realized the power that adding its presence to that of WorldTravel Partners would bring. "Accounts like Gillette and Unum are much easier to win for us with our national/multinational resources and with our technological resources," Hood said. "It was a good marriage and a good fit for both of us. They could grow faster with a national and multinational brand and still run the same region of the country they've been running."
FPT also was attractive to WorldTravel Partners because it is "one of the best users" of the CoRRe software system, a product of WTP's technology arm, Travel Technologies Group.
Because of its strong local reputation, FPT will retain its name, at least in the short term, and its senior management will not change, Hood said, though FPT president Jay Levitts will become an equity partner in the limited liability company. Hood said no jobs will be lost, noting that WTP's New England presence has been limited until now to three onsites. In addition to its Boston presence, FPT has full-service offices in Chicago and Manhattan.
The two companies' first initiatives as a joint entity will be a best-practices integration "to really understand each others' business," and to see where FPT can assist WorldTravel on joint accounts in the New England region. FPT will gain access to WorldTravel's CRS agreements, hotel program and 24-hour service.
The acquisition is part of a strategy to grow WorldTravel $250 million a year over each of the next three years, including possible acquisitions in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco--and one more "good sized travel agency this year," Hood said.