NAVIGANT International is to buy half the shareholding
of rival TQ3 for an undisclosed sum and adopt the TQ3 brand in the UK.
The move is no surprise to the industry, which has
long predicted further consolidation.
The companies, with a combined turnover of $11
billion, will be TQ3 Travel Solutions branded everywhere except the US and
Canada, where Navigant is the major brand. A new US brand will be created –
TQ3Navigant.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel will acquire the corporate
travel arm of Maritz, TQ3’s former US operating arm. This means TUI’s business
travel division retains a 50% shareholding in TQ3 with Navigant holding the
rest.
TQ3 chief operating officer Toby Joseph said TQ3 and
Navigant had little overlap in the UK and would be brought together in the next
two months, but jobs were not at risk.
He said TQ3 needed more strength in the
US. “Since TQ3 launched three years ago, we have been looking at our market
position in the US, which we were not comfortable with.”
TQ3 claims the deal and future dual-branding will see
it become the second-biggest company in the US behind American Express,
although an industry source doubted it would make much difference.
Institute of Travel Management chairman Tom Stone said
Navigant’s shareholding in TQ3 bound the companies, which might make the
venture more robust than other alliances.
But the industry is concerned that other bidders
rumoured to have been interested in buying Maritz were Cendant and Sabre,
raising the question of whether a travel management company owned by a GDS
would get the technology on more favourable terms – potentially leading to some
companies changing GDS allegiance.
Cendant and Sabre refused to say whether they had bid.