Global travel management platform TravelPerk is taking over UK business travel specialist Click Travel.
The acquisition for an undisclosed sum is TravelPerk’s third in 12 months and is the latest step in an ambitious post-Covid growth strategy.
All 150 Birmingham-based Click Travel staff will join tech-driven TravelPerk, making the city a major new hub for the company.
Click Travel was founded in 1999 and is touted as the UK’s fastest growing corporate travel management company handling £300 million in business travel for 2,000 clients, including Five Guys, Red Bull and Talk Talk.
The Baupost Group, a Boston-based investment manager with roughly $31 billion in assets under management, provided capital to TravelPerk to fund the deal, which also includes Click Travel’s technology and customer base.
TravelPerk’s third and largest acquisition follows the integration of risk management start-up Albatross a year ago and US business travel platform NexTravel in January.
TravelPerk attracted $160 million in series D funding in May, taking the total amount raised to date to $294 million.
The funding will be used to fuel TravelPerk’s global growth and to invest in further development of innovative solutions for travel in a Covid and post-Covid world.
TravelPerk also recently revealed a partnership with Skyscanner that will see the online travel agency take travel restriction information directly to use in its interactive destination map.
Co-founder and chief executive and Avi Meir (pictured) said: “We’re really excited to welcome Click Travel’s fantastic and talented team to TravelPerk to build long term growth and to significantly expand our on-the-ground team in the UK.
“Since March last year, our strategy has been to invest massively in our product offering and in our global reach, so that we were well-positioned for the recovery when it came. Today’s news is a major part of that plan.
“There is no doubt that the business travel market is on track for a full recovery after the disruption of the last year. The meetings that matter will always happen in person and we are already seeing plenty of green shoots in our key markets.”
Click Travel chief executive James McLean added: “Click Travel and TravelPerk share the same mission – to reduce the cost and complexity of business travel for everyone involved by offering the best inventory and technology and delighting our customers with superb customer service throughout.
“Those shared objectives, combined with the natural cultural fit between our two companies, means we are incredibly excited to bring our teams together. Combining TravelPerk’s industry-leading knowledge, technology, experience and first class customer support with our own is a powerful proposition and we can’t wait to get started.”