American Express GBT is to be acquired by investment holding company Long Lake Management in an all-cash transaction valued at around $6.3 billion.
The per share price of $9.50 represents a 60% premium over Amex GBT’s closing stock price on May 1, 2026.
Major shareholders representing 69% of GBT’s shares, including American Express, Expedia, Qatar Investment Authority and BlackRock, have entered into voting agreements in support of the deal.
Rumours began to circulate at the end of last year that the travel management giant was looking for a sale. The transaction brings to a close four years of Amex GBT being a public company.
Paul Abbott, Chief Executive Officer of Amex GBT, said: “This transaction is a testament to the value of Amex GBT, the success of our strategy and the strength of our incredible team.
“This agreement delivers a compelling outcome for our shareholders, providing them a substantial, certain cash value at an attractive premium.
“Together with Long Lake’s applied AI capabilities and our travel expertise, global scale, and trusted customer and supplier relationships built over decades, Amex GBT is driving the transformation of business travel.”
Alex Taubman, Co-Founder and CEO of Long Lake, said: “Amex GBT is the most trusted partner in corporate travel. The future of business travel will be defined by AI and human agents working seamlessly together on behalf of every traveller: faster booking times, proactive disruption resolution, and frictionless travel administration.
“In partnership with Long Lake, Amex GBT will continue to invest heavily in these capabilities and continue to set the gold standard for customer excellence.”
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year and is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Amex GBT’s stockholders and receipt of requisite regulatory clearances.
Once completed, Amex GBT’s common stock will no longer be publicly listed, and Amex GBT will become a privately held company.
The transaction is being financed with a combination of equity provided by Long Lake’s existing investors and Koch Equity Development LLC (“Koch”), the principal investment and acquisition arm of Koch, Inc. and committed debt financing provided by JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, and MUFG.
Long Lake describes itself as a pioneer or the use of frontier technology to accelerate services industries, with its proprietary Nexus AI transformation platform.
Founded in 2023 and backed by investors including General Catalyst, Alpha Wave, Elad Gil, D1, Thrive and other strategic partners, it has already acquired and partnered with dozens of wide-ranging services businesses “improving growth and customer experience”.
