CIBT Continues To Roll Up Passport, Visa Services

McLean Va.-based passport and visa services company CIBT yesterday announced the closing of the acquisition of Providence, R.I.-based Passport Express, which will become an online CIBT brand.

Passport Express becomes the second Internet operation acquired by CIBT, which also owns Portsmouth, N.H.-based American Passport Express and The Visa Service of Houston and The Visa Center. The most recent acquisition, which is one of 14 during the past 30 months, enables CIBT to do business in Philadelphia and expedite service in other cities, said president and CEO Jeffrey Fine.

Fine said CIBT, which processes approximately 750,000 passports and visas annually, also closed a deal yesterday to acquire for an undisclosed amount Visum-Centrale, Germany's largest visa provider. CIBT also has wholly owned subsidiaries in countries including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and India, and affiliates in Australia, Canada and Scandinavia.

According to Fine, CIBT handles services for 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies, including IBM, General Electric, Microsoft and Wal-Mart, through service agreements via such travel management companies as Carlson Wagonlit Travel, BCD Travel and American Express Business Travel. CIBT also has an onsite implant at the International Monetary Fund and a 29-person team at the World Bank.

The rollup of these passport services puts CIBT further into a position to serve its international corporate clients and speed up the process, said Marc Casto, president and COO of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Casto Travel. "The last thing a corporation wants is to have a senior executive standing in line at the passport office," he said. "Every consulate has reams of red tape and a provider knows how to cut that red tape and perform miracles."