Long Lake's €5.39B takeover of Amex GBT tops European M&A activity in May

Long Lake Management Holdings Inc.'s €5.39 billion deal to acquire American Express-backed Global Business Travel Group Inc. emerged as the largest European M&A transaction in May.

American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), which is operated by UK-based Global Business Travel Group, will be acquired at a cash consideration of about €8.08 per share, representing a 60.20% premium over its closing price the day before the deal was announced.

Shareholders American Express Co., Expedia Group Inc., Qatar Investment Authority and BlackRock Inc., collectively holding 69% of Amex GBT, voted in favor of the transaction.

American Express, which owns 30% of Amex GBT, is expected to receive about $1.5 billion in proceeds and earn pretax gains of approximately $975 million from the deal.

Upon completion of the deal, Amex GBT will delist from the New York Stock Exchange. Long Lake's applied AI capabilities will help Amex GBT improve its booking times, resolve disruptions and streamline travel administration, Long Lake CEO Alex Taubman said in a statement.

Fitch Ratings placed Global Business Travel Group on ratings watch negative, citing uncertainty about the company's post-completion capital structure after it pays down all existing debt, including potentially higher EBITDA leverage or higher financial policy risk.

S&P Global Ratings made the same action, saying Long Lake may employ a more aggressive financial policy that could result in Amex GBT carrying more debt than it did under public ownership.

Amex GBT's shares surged May 4, closing roughly 58% higher at $9.34 per share following the deal announcement.

Five other deals to acquire UK-based companies dominated the list of the 10 largest M&A transactions in Europe in May, including US-based food manufacturer Ingredion Inc.'s €4.33 billion buyout of Tate & Lyle PLC, the second biggest deal of the month.

Two financials sector deals — Bullish Global's €3.59 billion takeover of UK-based transfer agent Equiniti Group Ltd. and Terra Quantum AG's acquisition of Axiom Intelligence Acquisition Corp. in a €3.01 billion reverse merger deal — took the third and fourth spots, respectively.

The industrials sector contributed three big-ticket transactions for the month, led by Siemens Mobility GmbH's €1.20 billion deal to buy railway technology developer MER MEC SpA's businesses in Italian wayside signaling, electrification, telecommunication, diagnostics, analytics and worldwide data infrastructure.

Total deal volumes dropped to 839 in May from 1,056 the previous month, while aggregate transaction values declined 48% on a monthly basis to €33.70 billion.

– View the deal profile page for the Long Lake-Amex GBT transaction. – Access M&A data using the transactions screener tool