American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), the world’s leading business partner for managed travel, is to acquire DER Business Travel (DER), the corporate travel arm of the DER Touristik Group, a diversified retail and tourism company. 
The acquisition is conditioned on receipt of antitrust approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
The purchase would expand GBT’s footprint into Germany’s small and mid-sized clients sector. DER’s already impressive 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 ecosystem and core technology platform.
Elyes Mrad, GBT’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director, International, said: “Given the complementary nature of our businesses, the acquisition is a great opportunity for everyone involved. GBT services many global and multinational clients, while DER is focused on small to medium sized enterprises trading in Germany.”
Mark Tantz, DER Managing Director, said: “This is a special moment for DER Business Travel, its employees and its clients. GBT and DER are both people-driven organisations with a passion for providing the best technology and service to clients. 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.”
DER’s corporate travel business is headquartered in Frankfurt and operates in 42 locations across Germany with approximately 600 employees.
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