American Express Global Business Travel agreed to be acquired by Long Lake Management in an all-cash deal valued at $6.3 billion, the companies said Monday.
Shareholders will receive $9.50 per share under the terms of the offering, a 60.2% premium to the stock’s closing price on May 1, and Long Lake will be backed by General Catalyst and Alpha Wave. Shares of Amex GBT rose 57% in premarket trading on Monday.
Regulatory approvals must be obtained before the deal can be completed, and both companies are targeting a closing date sometime in the second half of 2026. The deal will take Amex GBT private and marks Long Lake’s first IPO, according to Bloomberg.
For American Express, which owns about 30% of Amex GBT and is its largest individual shareholder, the sale will generate $1.5 billion in cash and a pre-tax gain of $975 million. Existing ties between the two companies, including the agreement under which Amex GBT uses the American Express name and several other business agreements, are not expected to change as a result of the acquisition.
A block of major shareholders (Expedia, Qatar Investment Authority, BlackRock and American Express), which together represent 69% of the outstanding shares, have formally committed their votes in favor of the transaction, Bloomberg reported.
Koch Inc.’s investment arm joined Long Lake’s own investor base in providing capital for the purchase, while four banks (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group) arranged the debt package. In terms of advice, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America guided Long Lake through the process; The Amex GBT special committee turned to Rothschild & Co.
“This deal delivers a compelling outcome for our shareholders, providing them with substantial and secure cash value at an attractive premium,” Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott said in a statement.
Central to Long Lake’s speech is the idea that AI can fundamentally transform the way corporate travel operates; The company has created a platform it calls Nexus to pursue that goal and has assembled a portfolio of service sector companies along the way.
“The future of business travel will be defined by AI and human agents working together seamlessly on behalf of every traveler,” Long Lake co-founder and CEO Alex Taubman said in a statement.
Founded as a corporate travel subsidiary of American Express, the company went public on the public markets in 2022 through an Apollo-backed SPAC and offers software and services spanning travel, expense management, and meetings and events. Last September it concluded a $540 million alliance with CWT, further consolidating Amex GBT’s position in a market where it faces competition from the likes of Booking Holdings, BCD Travel and Navan.