Australia-based Corporate Travel Management has entered an
agreement to buy the Australian and New Zealand corporate and entertainment
businesses of its rival Helloworld for AUS$175 million (US$124.9 million).
CTM said the acquisition is “highly complementary” to its
existing corporate travel operations in Australia and New Zealand and will add
industry verticals that are expected to perform strongly as the recovery from
Covid-19 continues, such as travel management for government, entertainment,
film, music and arts customers, as well as conferences and events in New
Zealand.
The deal will be funded by a combination of AU$100 million
cash and $75 million of CTM shares to be issued to Helloworld. It is expected
to complete in Q1 2022 subject to regulatory approval.
Helloworld Corporate is a part of Helloworld, an Australian
and New Zealand travel distribution company comprising retail travel networks,
corporate travel management services, destination management, air ticket
consolidation, wholesale travel services and online operations. It operates via
the brands QBT, AOT Hotels, TravelEdge and Show Group in Australia and APX and
Atlas Travel in New Zealand.
In the 2019 financial year, Helloworld Corporate generated
earnings of around AU$22 million and around AU$1.6 million during the first
quarter of the current financial year, according to CTM.
Jamie Pherous, founder and MD of CTM, said: “We are
privileged to be able to acquire these businesses and are excited to be the
custodian of such a high-quality portfolio of clients. We feel strongly that we
will be able to continue to deliver strong product and service outcomes to
their customers with our dedicated focus.”
Andrew Burnes, Helloworld’s CEO and MD, added: “We believe
that CTM is the right home for our corporate and entertainment travel clients
in the future. We regard CTM as an excellent operation and know they have
particularly high standards of service and proprietary customer technology in
the Australian and New Zealand markets and around the globe.”
CTM acquired US-based Travel and Transport in 2020,
including the Radius Travel network, creating a $7.6 billion global TMC.