New Zealand-based corporate travel booking and expense provider Serko has made a significant move to expand its global footprint and offer clients complementary services by acquiring InterplX, a Minneapolis-headquartered expense specialist with a roster of North American client corporations including multiple Fortune 500 companies.
Serko CEO Darrin Grafton said the rationale behind the $2.5
million purchase had several elements, including giving Serko a base from which
to expand and support its U.S. operations, along with presenting operational
and cross-selling efficiencies.
"We've been looking to strengthen our presence and have
people on the ground in the U.S., and this acquisition does that," Grafton
said. "As we expand to support clients in multiple time zones, we now can
offer 24/7 coverage for customer support," he added, noting that real-time
customer service is an increasing point of emphasis for client companies and end-users.
Serko and InterplX also were a good match from a technology
standpoint, Grafton noted. "We're both working with very similar tech
stack, so we can easily integrate and build out from there," he observed.
Finally, the acquisition gives Serko the opportunity to
cross-sell Serko's booking solutions to InterplX's existing expense clients, as
the latter company doesn't offer booking capability. Serko
launched its Zeno booking technology in the United States in April. In
October, the NDC-enabled chatbot-based booking tool won People's
Choice honors at the BTN Innovator of the Year competition.
"We think this acquisition is going to benefit both our
customers and IntrerplX's customers and will create a benefit of one plus one
equals three," Grafton said, adding that system integration will get
underway during the first quarter of 2019, with the acquisition finalized by
mid-year.
Under terms of the deal, InterplX will continue
to be run by founder Chuck Buckner and its existing management team, who will
report to Serko VP of North America, Tony D'Astolfo.