American Express has announced that it has signed an agreement to create a joint venture for its Global Business Travel division (GBT). American Express will share ownership of the joint venture with an investor group led by Certares.
Bill Glenn, formerly President of Global Commercial Services at American Express, will be President and Chief Executive Officer of the joint venture and Certares founder Greg O’Hara will serve as Chairman of the joint venture.
“The joint venture reflects our continued commitment to the travel business through a new structure with an outstanding group of investors and the resources to grow the business and provide additional value to our corporate customers,” said Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express. “Bill Glenn is an accomplished leader with experience running major business units during his distinguished career at American Express. He has built strong customer relationships throughout the corporate sector and his experience makes him a terrific choice to lead the transformation of a business that will be focused on capitalizing on new growth opportunities.”
Mr. Glenn added: “To our knowledge, this would be the largest single investment made in a travel management company. We believe it will accelerate our growth by funding meaningful advances in technology, analytics and service excellence that will benefit suppliers, partners and our global customer base. We account for more corporate travel sales than any other TMC, and these initiatives will put us in a better position to help travel buyers manage travel spend and support their travellers.”
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