TCG
Consulting said it acquired competing travel management firm Consulting
Strategies from owners Mark Walton, David Hillman and J. Grant Caplan in a move
that would help grow its customer base, global presence and talent.
Walton
reportedly accepted a post at Orbitz for Business as a strategy and account
management vice president. Hillman said he will take over ownership of Travel
Solutions Group, a separate company that he and Walton owned, which focused on
travel agency mergers and acquisitions as well as travel and payment talent
recruitment. Hillman said the firm represented Directravel in its sale to Ed Adams.
Caplan
this week joined TCG, as will Consulting Strategies associates in Europe, the
Middle East and perhaps elsewhere, according to Albert Taras, TCG's founder,
majority owner and managing partner.
"We
strongly believe that TCG Consulting is the right firm to give our clients the
excellent care and support we have strived to offer in our 13 years of
business," according to Walton's prepared statement. "We have worked
with the TCG team in the past to deliver solutions to key clients and global
companies and we share common goals, work ethic and superb customer service
support."
Founded
18 years ago in Charlotte, TCG Consulting has equity owners and employees in
North America, Europe, Latin America and Hong Kong, according to Taras. The
acquisition, he said, "gives us strength in areas that are growing around
technology and content. It gives us customers that we can not only support with
legacy services, but also with a whole list of services that were not offered
by Consulting Strategies."
In
addition to typical travel management consulting, TCG has proprietary airline
and hotel sourcing technology that generates about 25 percent of its revenues,
Taras said. "We're also generating revenues in operational performance
design, payment and expense, and have 10 contracts to be full- or part-time
outsourced travel managers," he added. "We've sourced and managed
over $8 billion in client spend now and our hotel practice is over $2.5 billion
in spending now."
TCG
currently employs more than 40 people, which Taras said would grow soon to 50.
"Our planned growth is to have people on the ground in 14 driver markets,"
he said. "We're actively fulfilling those markets today."
In
addition to consulting talent, Taras said TCG since 2010 "invested a
significant amount of money growing our business," with new technology and
benchmarking, and offices in London, São Paulo and Hong Kong.
"Prior to the acquisition of Consulting Strategies, which will add just under 23 percent to our revenue, we
actually doubled in size in revenue in the past two years and four months,"
Taras claimed. The growth primarily has been organic with a few "single
shingle," additions. Consulting Strategies is TCG's first major
acquisition. The parties declined to reveal the purchase price.