B2B travel platform American Express Global Business Travel will begin its life as a public company Tuesday (May 31) after the three-day Memorial Day weekend, joining the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GBTG, according to a company press release Friday (May 27).
“Today marks a significant milestone in the business travel industry recovery and for Amex GBT,” said Paul Abbott, Amex GBT’s CEO, in the press release. “With strategic initiatives over the last few years, including complementary accretive acquisitions, product and technology enhancements and lasting cost reductions, we have confidence that we are very well positioned to win a larger portion of the $1.4 trillion business travel market.
“As a publicly traded company, we will have the flexibility to further accelerate our growth strategy. Trading as a public company follows years of work to strengthen our market leadership position. While listing our company is an achievement, it also marks the beginning of a new phase of growth paired with a focus on delivering long-term shareholder value as the world’s largest publicly traded B2B travel platform,” he said.
The move to make Amex GBT a publicly traded company follows the completion of its previously announced special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal with Apollo Strategic Growth Capital, which was approved by APSG shareholders on Wednesday (May 25) and closed on Friday.
Related: Amex Global Business Travel to Go Public in SPAC Deal
GBT announced the SPAC deal with Apollo in December, saying it would create the world’s biggest publicly traded B2B travel platform, valuing the company at $5 billion.
The deal is expected to yield up to $1.2 billion of gross proceeds, which includes a $335 million PIPE (private investment in public equity) investment at $10 per common share.
New investors in the company include the communications platform Zoom and travel tech company Sabre, which join existing shareholders American Express and the online travel site Expedia.
GBT acquired Expedia’s corporate travel arm Egencia last year in a deal that also made Expedia a GBT shareholder.
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