The business travel arm of Germany’s DER Touristik Group is being acquired by American Express Global Business Travel (GBT).
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, is conditional on receiving anti-trust approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of the year.
DER’s Frankfurt-based corporate travel business operates in 42 locations across Germany with about 600 staff.
DER Touristik is parent company of Kuoni, trading in 15 European countries.
The purchase would expand GBT’s footprint into Germany’s small and mid-sized companies.
DER’s already travel management offering would be enhanced by GBT’s international scale and global network.
In addition, DER’s corporate clients would have access to GBT’s travel and expense systems and core technology platform.
GBT senior vice president and managing director international, Elyes Mrad, said: “Given the complementary nature of our businesses, the acquisition is a great opportunity for everyone involved.
“GBT services many global and multi-national clients, while DER is focused on small to medium sized enterprises trading in Germany.”
DER managing director Mark Tantz added: “With GBT’s scale and proprietary tech stack and our expertise and relationships in Germany, this is a real opportunity to offer a new, collective value proposition to German businesses.”