American Express Global Business Travel agreed to acquire
Finnish travel management company SMT from Finnair Group, the mega TMC
announced. The transaction is expected to close by the end of September.
Already serving as GBT's partner in Finland, SMT operates in
corporate travel management and also provides meeting and event management. With
around 200 employees, SMT formed in 2013 through the merger of "the two
largest Finnish-owned business travel agencies," Area Travel Agency and
Finland Travel Bureau, according to GBT.
Finnair chief commercial officer Juha Järvinen cited
Finnair's strategy "to focus on its core airline business" in its
decision to divest SMT.
For 2015, Finnair's travel services business, including SMT,
represented about 9 percent of Finnair Group's revenue, according to the
company's 2015 annual report. Its airline business represented the remainder.
Though revenue in 2015 fell 4
percent year over year for the travel services division, which also
included leisure tour operator Aurinkomatkat
Suntours, the group highlighted "sales growth and excellent
profitability" for SMT last year.
In December, SMT sold its majority stake in Baltic
subsidiary Estravel to an Estonia-based partner.