Last month, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) last month announced it had signed an agreement to acquire KDS, a provider of integrated travel technology. According to the press release, “the acquisition of KDS is part of a broader investment strategy by GBT to develop an industry-leading suite of traveler-centric online and digital services, sitting on top of the company’s core technology platform for business travelers.”

During their continuous and extensive review of travel and expense management solutions, our analysts always look at what kind of impact these developments will have on products and customers. In order to find out more, we sat in on one of many sessions they’ve planned to address questions about the acquisition.

We learned that very little will change as far as the business model and product strategy. The way KDS interacts with customers will remain unchanged, regardless of their affiliation with AMEX GBT or other travel management companies. All customers will continue to be serviced in the same way. The global footprint and extended ecosystem of AMEX GBT will add significant resources for KDS to optimize existing tools and develop new ones. In an industry that relies on interoperability, a merger with a large organization with a global footprint and more provider relationships will no doubt provide numerous long-term benefits to end users.

The acquisition is expected to close next month. KDS will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of AMEX GBT, and there won’t be any sharing of customer data for commercial purposes. All contracts and points of contact for customers will remain the same. KDS has several more sessions and small roundtables planned to address any concerns.

 

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