German travel management company TQ3 Travel Solutions next Wednesday will complete the rebranding and integration of Toronto-based Kuhne & Nagel Travel Inc. Canada as TQ3 Travel Solutions. Having recently won approval from government antitrust authorities, TQ3's new Canadian division will be a licensee and member of TQ3 Americas, also a division of TQ3 Travel Solutions.
TQ3 Travel Solutions, which is co-owned by St. Louis-based mega TQ3 Maritz Travel Solutions, in January completed the purchase of the business travel segment of German transportation corporation Kuhne & Nagel International AG. Now that antitrust concerns are behind it, the Brehmen behemoth has wholly owned operations in Canada, Turkey and South Africa, taking TQ3 to the point where 86 percent of its locations on a global basis are corporate owned, according to Toby Joseph, COO for TQ3 Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia/Pacific.
"When you actually own and manage operations," Joseph said, "it gives you a clear ability to provide strategic direction and manage the staff." Owning locations, as opposed to operating joint ventures or franchises, also speeds technological development, Joseph said, and allows the parent company to rapidly make investment decisions.
TQ3's new Canadian operation positions it for growth in that market. "Kuhne & Nagel is a market leader in Canada for small and medium-size companies," said Sam Andraos, president of Toronto- based consultancy Aim International Management. "It's an excellent outfit," he said, noting that the agency during the past two decades built its business largely on the strength of its pharmaceutical accounts.
TQ3's Joseph said the new Canadian unit hopes to reach $100 million in air sales for 2003. This would make TQ3 a major player in the Canadian travel management business, joining American Express, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Navigant, Rosenbluth and WorldTravel BTI, all of which have significant stakes in the Canadian market.