Announced last March, the intention of American Express GBT (Amex GBT) to acquire its competitor CWT for 570 million dollars has not been a smooth ride. The merger of the world's No. 1 and No. 3 business travel agencies could not help but arouse the fears of competition authoritiesThe UK Competition and Market Authority (CMA) in particular. After beginning to examine this merger at the beginning of June, the British competition authority expressed serious doubts about the consequences of this future association in mid-summer.
Rising prices, reduced efforts to innovate, deterioration in service quality: the reduction to a mere very small number of service providers capable of meeting the needs of multinationals would not be without consequences for the market, according to the CMA. In this context, the two parties have been asked to demonstrate the existence of fair competition. " It is now up to GBT and CWT to propose solutions to address our concerns, failing which the case will be subject to a further phase 2 investigation." warned Mike Walker, CMA's senior economic adviser.
There is an enquiry. And, in their joint response to the CMA dated 23 August but made public on 4 October, Amex GBT and CWT refute certain conclusions of phase 1 of the investigation. In particular a crucial point: the one concerning the substantial reduction in competition. " The merged entity will continue to face strong competition fromat least four global competitors (BCD, FCM, CTM and Navan) and many others such as Spotnana/Direct Travel, Blockskye/Kayak for Business/Gant Travel, with the credibility (...) to win contracts" The 55-page demonstration put forward by Amex GBT and CWT underlines this. In other words, increasing competition with players involved in the " extremely dynamic nature of the market" This is particularly true in view of the increased demand for technology solutions from our corporate customers.
By highlighting the contracts and tenders won by each side, the two parties set out to demonstrate that they did not have just one main competitor, BCD. Hence lower barriers to market entry than estimated by the CMA, with new tech-focused entrants able to forge links with major global accounts in a short space of time, such as Heineken for Navan and Walmart, Meta and Amazon for Spotnana. At the same time, they argued that medium-sized TMCs had been able to develop globally, such as the American companies Direct Travel and Fox World Travel, in partnership with BCD.
Other grievances raised by Amex GBT and CWT against the CMA's decision included the fact that it considered as two distinct markets multinationals and small and medium-sized businesses with complex, global needs, or the failure to take account of a highly fragmented and competitive business travel market. Different sizes, yes, but the same needs: this is what American Express and CWT point out in their response to the CMA: " Companies of all sizes have a continuum of requirements that all TMCs are able to satisfy" .
Will these arguments fully convince the UK competition authority? Phase 2 of the investigation is now underway, with the publication of an interim report expected in late October/early November, followed by the final verdict, which will be handed down by the UK Competition Commission. on 26 January 2025. " We believe that a full Phase 2 analysis will demonstrate that the proposed transaction would deliver numerous benefits to customers and suppliers, and that the business travel sector would remain highly competitive." said Eric J. Bock, Amex GBT's General Counsel and Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions, at the end of July. While the US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division is also examining the merger, Amex GBT still hopes to close this major acquisition in the first quarter of next year.
