TravelPerk buys AmTrav to fuel US expansion

European TMC TravelPerk has acquired US-based AmTrav in a bid to “accelerate” its expansion in the US.

Avi Meir, TravelPerk’s co-founder and CEO, announced the deal to acquire the US travel management platform in an online post on the Barcelona-based firm’s website.

“Backed by an additional $135 million in capital via credit facilities from Blackstone and Blue Owl Capital, we are thrilled to announce that we have acquired AmTrav, a US-focused, tech-first travel management platform,” said Meir.

“AmTrav co-founders Jeff [Klee] and Craig [Fichtelberg] founded the business 30 years ago in their University of Michigan dorm room and transformed it into a US leader in business travel.

“Whilst getting to know them, it was clear to me that they share the same dedication to innovation as TravelPerk. Like us, they are customer-obsessed. Philosophically, we are completely aligned on our approach of leveraging AI and technology to make travelling for work simpler and smarter.”

Meir added that both TravelPerk and AmTrav would continue to “operate independently in the near term”.

“We will have more exciting news to share on all the product and technology innovation that’s coming for all of our customers as a result of the powerful partnership,” said Meir.

TravelPerk was ranked as the eighth largest TMC in Europe in the list of Europe’s Leading TMCs 2024 with gross European sales of €1 billion in 2023. 

AmTrav is based in Chicago and also has offices in Boston, Los Angeles and Miami. The acquisition will double TravelPerk’s US revenue, which had already been boosted by a 65 per cent year-on-year increase in 2023.

Jeff Klee, AmTrav’s CEO, said in a letter to the company’s customers that they were “super excited” about the deal.

“I want to assure you that it will stay business as usual at AmTrav,” said Klee. “We will continue operating as we always have. Despite having a new parent company, we’re keeping our brand name, we’re keeping our booking tool, and most importantly, we’re keeping our team.”

Klee also revealed that TravelPerk had first approached AmTrav in 2021 but they “didn’t feel any urgency to sell” at that point.

He stressed the importance of both companies having their own technology stacks and predicted that the number of TMCs would “dramatically shrink in the next five years”.

“In TravelPerk we found a kindred spirit with a very similar mission, culture and thirst for innovation,” added Klee. “Ultimately, though, it was the TravelPerk people – their passion, energy, creativity and decency – from Avi on down, that won us over.”