Amex GBT Pursues T&E Via M&A

American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has taken an M&A approach to expanding in the corporate travel space.

An announcement on Tuesday (Aug. 30) said Amex GBT will acquire fellow corporate travel technology firm KDS. The takeover is slated to close in the fourth quarter of the year, and financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are bringing together an industry-leading online solution and travel management company to create the first seamless end-to-end experience centered on the modern business traveler,” stated Philippe Chereque, Amex GBT chief commercial and technology officer, in a statement. “This will also enable us to provide GBT customers with a proprietary door-to-door online booking tool supported by our new technology infrastructure.”

The acquisition follows Amex GBT’s partnership with the French company in 2014 to develop an online booking and expense reporting solution.

Earlier this year, KDS launched Neo Move, a mobile app version of its Neo platform. At the time of its release, KDS highlighted similar goals stated by Chereque — namely, that KDS is looking to provide “door-to-door” itinerary management for corporate clients.

Also earlier this year, American Express Global Business Travel announced that it had chosen Kyriba as its payments processor to streamline payments to travel suppliers. In a statement, the company said it chose Kyriba because, as it operates across 120 nations, it needed a payment processor that could facilitate cross-border payments.