The UK’sCompetition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially confirmed that there will be an in-depth “phase 2” investigation into American Express Global Business Travel’s proposed $570 million acquisition of CWT.
The CMA last month said that the deal between two of the major travel management companies, which was announced in March, could lead to clients paying higher prices and create a “very small pool” of providers capable of catering to global and multinational companies.
The regulator had given Amex GBT until 6 August to provide “acceptable undertakings” to address the CMA's concerns about its acquisition of CWT. But now that deadline has passed, the CMA has officially referred it for a phase 2 investigation with the deadline for a decision set for 26 January 2025.
The four-strong panel, which will investigate the impact of the Amex GBT-CWT deal, will be headed by Martin Coleman, who is a non-executive director and panel chair of the CMA.
Eric J Bock, Amex GBT’s chief legal officer and global head of M&A, last month expressed confidence that the CMA’s phase 2 analysis would “demonstrate that the proposed transaction would result in many customer and supplier benefits, and that the business travel industry would remain highly competitive”.
The TMC has already said that the completion of its acquisition of CWT is now expected in the first quarter of 2025 after previously hoping it would be finalised in the second half of this year. The acquisition will also have to secure regulatory clearance in the US.