Hickory Parent To Buy TraveLeaders

Hickory Travel Systems owner American Leisure Holdings Inc. today announced plans to acquire Coral Gables, Fla.-based corporate travel management company TraveLeaders. Expected to close within 90 days, the deal calls for TraveLeaders to be incorporated as an independent subsidiary into AMLH's travel division. TraveLeaders chairman and CEO Keith St. Clair was named president of AMLH and chairman and CEO of its travel division. Meanwhile, Stanford Venture Capital Holdings Inc. has made available to AMLH a credit facility of $6 million and has agreed to an additional $4 million to support AMLH's growth plans.

Speaking today with Business Travel News, St. Clair called TraveLeaders "the acquisitive arm" of AMLH, noting that the newly formed organization "will be announcing a substantial joint venture and new product range" that reflects both the Hickory distribution channel and the TraveLeaders platform. About 70 percent of TraveLeaders' volume is corporate, he said, although the leisure component is growing. He said TraveLeaders will honor its commitment to being part of Radius for the next 15 months, "reinforcing the noncompetitive nature of TraveLeaders with other Hickory members." St. Clair said Hickory added TRX to its technology product portfolio following last year's defection by a handful of agency members to WorldTravel Affiliates, largely for access to technology.