American Express has completed the establishment of a business travel joint venture and added executives to its senior management team, the company announced.
Plans for the new American Express Global Business Travel, a joint venture between American Express and an investor group led by Certares, were announced in September 2013. The investor group, which includes Qatar Holding and funds managed by BlackRock, Macquarie Capital and Certares itself, according to American Express, has committed $900 million for a 50 percent stake in the joint venture.
Joining American Express Global Business Travel president and CEO Bill Glenn and chairman Greg O'Hara are new chief administrative officer Pat Bourke and chief financial officer Norma Corio, among other executives, the company announced.
Bourke, a former Worldspan and Travelport executive who most recently served as a partner in Blackstone's private equity group, will focus on "centralizing key organizational operations and ensuring a seamless exit from the transitional services agreements that are currently in place" between American Express Global Business Travel and American Express, according to a company statement. Corio is a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive who most recently served as co-president and a managing director of restructuring firm Miller Buckfire.
Glenn, named CEO in January, told The Beat in March that technology would serve as a target of new investment for the company, a stance he reiterated in a Tuesday statement.
"With the creation of the joint venture and the infusion of $900 million of capital from our investors, we now have even greater resources that the marketplace requires to not only stay ahead of the curve, but to create the curve," Glenn said in the company statement. "For American Express Global Business Travel, technology is an area of investment, expertise and innovation, meeting the needs of the traveler and also offering control and transparency to the travel manager or meeting professional. Our immense data repository will deliver even greater value to our customers and partners."