JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reached an agreement to acquire travel management company Frosch, according to a report from BTN sister publication The Beat.
The deal was announced in a memo to employees, obtained and verified by The Beat, from Frosch president and CEO Bryan Leibman, in which he said Frosch’s "interest is aligned" with JPMorgan "to be the leader in luxury leisure and premium corporate travel" and that Frosch will "become a foundation for JPMC as they enter a new business line." Frosch officials are not yet commenting on the acquisition and referred questions to a JPMorgan spokesperson, who did not immediately return a request for comment.
It marks the latest in several acquisitions of travel services companies by major financial institutions, which are working to expand their own offerings beyond traditional banking and payment services. U.S. Bancorp recently acquired travel and expense platform TravelBank, while Capital One last year acquired the workforce and software platform of corporate travel management startup Lola and launched Capital One Travel, a booking portal for its customers powered by travel technology provider Hopper.
JPMorgan, meanwhile, last year acquired the global loyalty business of loyalty and technology solutions provider cxLoyalty, including its full-service travel agency, with the aim of creating "a more holistic end-to-end customer travel journey" for Chase Ultimate Rewards members, according to the company.
Frosch in recent years has been expanding its own footprint via acquisition, most recently taking a 51 percent stake in the corporate travel division of Michigan-based Conlin Travel, which itself acquired Indiana-based agency Menno Travel earlier this year. It also acquired Valerie Wilson Travel in 2021, midsize corporate firm Luxe Travel in 2020 and TCG Consulting in 2019, and it took a majority stake in luxury travel specialist Plaza Travel in 2020. In the memo, Leibman said Frosch's sub-brands would "remain intact" and the company would "continue business as usual," according to The Beat.
Disclosure: Private equity company EagleTree Capital owns BTN parent company Northstar Travel Group and is an investor in Frosch.