Amex GBT's journey is starting to look more and more like a strange game of Monopoly. After fuelling the business travel news with its various actions- in particular CWT – and their potential impact on the maintaining competitionthe TMC is now on the other side of the transaction. This time, it's its turn to be bought out, for the modest sum of 6.3 billion dollars. And so it is Long Lake, presented as a "pioneer in the use of cutting-edge technologies to accelerate the transformation of service sectors," that has made the acquisition, alongside General Catalyst and Alpha Wave, among others. The news had been brewing since at least the end of 2025.
According to the roadmap unveiled on 4 May, the transaction is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2026. It will transform Amex GBT into a private company, in the sense that it will delist from the New York Stock Exchange. The TMC made its grand entrance there at the end of 2022.
For Paul Abbott, « This transaction demonstrates the value of Amex GBT, the success of our strategy, and the strength of our remarkable teamThe CEO of Amex GBT continues: " This agreement delivers a compelling outcome for our shareholders, providing them with substantial and certain cash value at an attractive premium. Our customers have always been at the heart of Amex GBT, and this partnership with Long Lake aims to serve them even better. General Catalyst and Alpha Wave, among Long Lake’s world-class investors, have backed some of the most successful technology companies in the world. Together, with Long Lake’s applied AI capabilities and our travel expertise, global scale, and trusted decades-long customer and supplier relationships, Amex GBT is leading the transformation of business travel. ".
For shareholders, this will effectively amount to 9.50 $ per share in cash, representing a premium of 65.1 % over the 30-day weighted average share price. For customers, the focus is expected – unsurprisingly – to shift even further towards artificial intelligence. Since its creation in 2023, the future owner, Long Lake, claims to have “acquired and partnered with dozens of diverse service companies, enhancing their growth and customer experience through its proprietary AI transformation platform, Nexus”.
Alex Taubman, Co-founder and CEO of Long Lake, also highlighted: " Amex GBT is the most trusted partner in business travel. The future of business travel will be defined by AI and human agents working in tandem to serve every traveller: faster booking times, proactive disruption management and frictionless travel administration. In partnership with Long Lake, Amex GBT will continue to invest heavily in these capabilities and maintain the level of excellent customer service. ".
