Travel management platform TravelPerk has acquired U.K-based corporate travel specialist Click Travel.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed but funds for the acquisition were provided to TravelPerk by the Baupost Group, a Boston-based investment manager.
TravelPerk claims the acquisition establishes it as the leading travel management platform for small to medium businesses market globally, as well as for the U.K.
The Click Travel acquisition is TravelPerk’s third in the past year with the company acquiring U.S-based NexTravel in January and travel API developer Albatross in July 2020.
Formed in 1999 in Birmngham, U.K.,Click Travel’s 150-strong team will join TravelPerk, boosting the company’s U.K. position.
Click counts brands such as Five Guys, Red Bull and Talk Talk among its customers according to a statement.
The statement goes on to stay that TravelPerk’s acquisition strategy is “driven by a focus on businesses that share its future-focused, tech-driven approach to travel management.”
Avi Meir, CEO and co-founder of TravelPerk, says: “Since March last year, our strategy has been to invest massively in our product offering and in our global reach, so that we were well-positioned for the recovery when it came. Today’s news is a major part of that plan”.
Click Travel, then under the leadership of Jill Palmer, received a multi-million dollar funding round from the Business Growth Fund in July 2018.
She left the company in early 2021 to pursue new opportunities.
New CEO James McLeans ays: “Click Travel and TravelPerk share the same mission: to reduce the cost and complexity of business travel for everyone involved by offering the best inventory and technology and delighting our customers with superb customer service throughout.
TravelPerk raised $160 million in April saying it planned to fund acquisitions.
The cash injection brought its total funding to $294 million.
While Meir is bullish about corporate travel’s recovery, its acquisition of Click Travel adds to the recent consolidation in the segment and is perhaps a sign the segment may not recover to pre-pandemic levels.
CTM acquired U.S-based Travel and Transport in late 2020.
More recently American Express Global Business Travel announced plans to acquire Expedia-owned Egencia in May while Tripactions announced it was buying Reed & Mackay.
Airline bosses continue to voice confidence in the segment's recovery however and many investors remain happy to commit dollars to its growth.
While other industry experts say business travel will look and feel different for some time but maintain it's vital for corporate innovation going forward.