American Express Global Business Travel To Be Taken Public In A US$5 Billion SPAC Merger
Travel platform American Express Global Business Travel is set to make its New York Stock Exchange debut on Tuesday after it has closed its business combination with special purpose acquisition company Apollo Strategic Growth Capital (NYSE: APSG) on Friday. The transaction values the combined company with a market capitalization of US$5.3 billion and an enterprise value of US$5 billion.
“With strategic initiatives over the last few years, including complementary accretive acquisitions, product and technology enhancements and lasting cost reductions, we have confidence that we are very well positioned to win a larger portion of the $1.4 trillion business travel market. As a publicly traded company, we will have the flexibility to further accelerate our growth strategy.” said Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott.
The transaction, which secured the shareholders’ approval on Wednesday last week, is expected to gross up to US$1.2 billion. This comes from around US$817 million held in the SPAC’s trust and US$335 million common stock PIPE financing.
Investments come from communications from Zoom Video Communications, global travel technology company Sabre, asset manager Apollo (also an affiliate of SPAC’s sponsor), private equity group Ares Management, and investment adviser HG Vora. The new set of investors joins the current roster, which includes American Express Company, Certares, and Expedia Group.
Following the closing of the transaction, the SPAC, soon to operate as Global Business Travel Group, will trade on the NYSE under the symbol “GBTG”. Corollary, the firm’s warrants also change its symbol to “GBTG.WS”.
The B2B travel platform reported US$350 million in revenue, US$91 million net loss, and a negative US$28 million in adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2022 as the firm reels in from the effects of the pandemic. For full-year 2022, the company guides annual figures to be around US$1.75 billion for revenue and between US$75 – US$85 million for adjusted EBITDA.
The black check firm, on the other hand, completed its US$750 million IPO in September 2020. Apollo executives Sanjay Patel and Scott Kleinman lead the SPAC as CEO and Executive Chairman, respectively.
Apollo Strategic Growth Capital last traded at US$7.39 on the NYSE.
Information for this briefing was found via Edgar and the companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.