The 2024 list of business travel mergers and acquisitions may not be as lengthy as some of those of the recent past, but it still includes some of the industry's heaviest hitters and some of its most storied names on the move.
This past year featured a new owner for one of the original online booking systems, the largest U.S. airline merger in several years, and an attempt from an Indian hotel giant to plant an American flag through an economy-tier acquisition.
A few other trends illustrated the 2024 business travel M&A landscape:
TMC activity escalates. American Express Global Business Travel's agreement to acquire rival CWT would be the biggest TMC acquisition in years, but it's not a done deal yet, as the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority continues its assessment of the proposed merger's would-be market effects. That hardly was the only TMC M&A activity, with traditional snapped up by newer entrants: AmTrav was acquired by travel management platform TravelPerk, and Direct Travel was acquired by a group of investors led by industry veteran Steve Singh, adding it to his other holdings: Spotnana, Troop and Center.
No cigar. Although plenty of deals consummated in 2024, the year was also notable for some big moves that didn't cross the finish line. JetBlue called off its $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit airlines a few weeks after a U.S. district court judge ruled in favor of the U.S. Department of Justice in an antitrust lawsuit it brought against the carriers. Meanwhile, Choice Hotels International in 2024 abandoned its pursuit of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, a tie-up that would have created a U.S. economy-tier hotel colossus but was opposed by Wyndham's board and management.
Here's a list of mergers and acquisitions covered by BTN and portfolio mate The Beat in 2024.
Travel Management Companies
American Express Global Business Travel agreed to acquire CWT
TravelPerk acquired AmTrav
A group of investors led by Steve Singh acquired Direct Travel
Gray Dawes acquired VCK Travel
The Appointment Group agreed to acquire Travel Stars
The Human Network acquired Beyond Business Travel
Adventure acquired Silkway Travel Asia
Airlines
Alaska Airlines completed the acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, first announced in 2023
Korean Air completed the acquisition of Asiana Airlines, first announced in 2020
Air India Group completed the merger of Air India and Vistara, first announced in 2022
Southwest Airlines acquired SAFFire Renewables
Technology
Serko agreed to acquire GetThere
Gant Travel Management acquired Aimendo
Pango agreed to acquire Gett
Thomalex and JR Technologies completed a merger
CDS Groupe acquired SIAP
Amadeus acquired Vision-Box
Amadeus acquired Voxel
IBS Software acquired Above Property Services
Lodging
Oyo acquired Motel 6 parent G6 Hospitality
Hilton Worldwide acquired Graduate Hotels
Hilton Worldwide acquired a majority stake in the parent company of the NoMad Hotel
Hyatt Hotels Corp. acquired Standard International
Meetings
Groupize acquired The Vendry
Cvent acquired Jifflenow and iCapture
Cvent acquired Splash
InteleTravel acquired McVeigh Global Meetings & Events
BTN portfolio mate BTN Europe covered several additional deals in 2024. Read about them here.
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