American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) is being taken private after Long Lake Management agreed to acquire the company for around $6.3 billion, according to an announcement on March 4.

Amex GBT is managed by Global Business Travel Group (GBTG), whose stock jumped 57.5 percent, to $9.34, the same day as more than 81 million shares were traded.

“General Catalyst and Alpha Wave, among Long Lake’s world-class investors, have backed some of the most successful technology companies in the world. Together with Long Lake’s applied AI capabilities ... Amex GBT is driving the transformation of business travel,” Paul Abbott, CEO of Amex GBT, said in a statement.

The transaction is all-cash and represents $9.50 a share. This is approximately a 60 percent premium to GBTG’s closing price on May 1, the last full trading day prior to the deal’s announcement, and around a 65 percent premium over the volume-weighted average price of its stock over the last 30 days before the announcement.

Amex GBT said the acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2026 and was unanimously recommended by a special committee of independent directors before it was approved by its board of directors.

Amex GBT was originally a part of American Express’s corporate travel division before it was spun out as its own company in 2014 that kept American Express branding. It acts as a business-to-business travel management company.

As part of the deal, Amex GBT will retain its American Express brand licensing, and American Express said it’s selling its 30 percent equity stake in Amex GBT for approximately $1.5 billion in proceeds and a pretax gain of around $975 million.

The buyer, Long Lake, describes itself as a long-term holding company founded in 2023 that uses “frontier technology” to accelerate service industries.

“The future of business travel will be defined by AI and human agents working seamlessly together on behalf of every traveler: faster booking times, proactive disruption resolution, and frictionless travel administration,” Alex Taubman, co-founder and CEO of Long Lake, said. “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.”

Long Lake is backed by investors including Alpha Wave and General Catalyst, whose acting chairman, Ken Chenault, was the chairman and CEO of American Express during 2001–18, when Amex GBT was grown and spun out of American Express.

“American Express Global Business Travel was built on trust earned over decades. Similarly, the foundation of the Long Lake model is a strong commitment to extraordinary customer service for the modern era,” he said.