Long Lake, a newly formed vehicle backed by General Catalyst and Alpha Wave, signed a definitive agreement to acquire American Express Global Business Travel for $6.3 billion, taking the corporate travel platform private eighteen months after its stumbled entry into public markets. The deal values Amex GBT at $5.25 per share, a 52% discount to its October 2022 SPAC debut price and roughly half the $12 billion enterprise value the company commanded at its listing peak.
Amex GBT processes more than $115 billion in annual travel volume across 30,000 corporate clients in 140 countries, making it the world's largest corporate travel platform by transaction volume. The company employs 15,000 people and handles travel for one in three Fortune 500 companies. Revenue in the trailing twelve months reached $2.9 billion, but the company remained unprofitable on a GAAP basis, burning through $180 million in cash from operations over the same period. The SPAC transaction that brought it public in April 2022 — a merger with Apollo Strategic Growth Capital — closed weeks before travel-sector multiples collapsed. The stock never recovered.
The take-private reflects two broader shifts. First, corporate travel platforms are migrating from public-market storytelling to private-capital rebuilds. Amex GBT competes with Concur, Egencia, and a fragmented field of regional players; none trade at software multiples. The company's gross margins sit near 18%, closer to traditional travel agencies than SaaS platforms, and client contracts run three to five years with low switching costs. General Catalyst and Alpha Wave are betting they can re-engineer the cost base and move the platform upmarket without quarterly earnings calls. Second, the deal marks another SPAC unwinding. Apollo Strategic Growth Capital took Amex GBT public at a $5.3 billion equity value; Long Lake is paying 19% more in absolute dollars but acquiring a business that now carries higher debt and weaker free cash flow. The SPAC sponsors exit cleanly. The public shareholders who bought in post-merger take the loss.
Allocators should watch three follow-on events. Long Lake will need to refinance or restructure Amex GBT's $1.8 billion in outstanding debt, likely within 90 days of close; the existing covenant package assumes public-company liquidity. General Catalyst's portfolio includes corporate spend platforms Brex and Ramp; any product integration or cross-sell motion between those companies and Amex GBT would signal a roll-up strategy rather than a standalone turnaround. Finally, American Express retains a 12% equity stake and a long-term brand licensing agreement; how that relationship evolves — whether Amex increases its stake, exits entirely, or launches a competing platform — will determine whether this deal was defensive or offensive.
The transaction closes in Q3 2025, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Long Lake has committed $4.1 billion in equity; the remainder is rollover debt. No breakup fee was disclosed.
The takeaway
Long Lake's $6.3B take-private of Amex GBT marks the largest SPAC unwind in travel tech, backed by General Catalyst and Alpha Wave.
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