Flight Centre Travel Group is upping its stake in travel content aggregator TPConnects to a majority 70 percent, the travel management company announced.
Flight Centre first invested in the Dubai-based TPConnects—which aggregates travel content from sources including global distribution systems, low-cost carriers and other supplier-direct channels and New Distribution Capability content aggregators and makes them available via a universal API—in February 2020 and currently has a 22.5 percent stake. With its agreement to increase that stake, Flight Centre expects to benefit by providing clients of its corporate business "the broadest range of relevant content through all available channels," according to Flight Centre Corporate global CEO Chris Galanty.
"By strengthening our investment and deepening our alliance with TPConnects, we are able to leverage their expertise and NDC-enabled technology to enhance our ability to service our corporate customers and meet their travel program aims both in terms of options and value," Galanty said in a statement. "In this dynamic environment, it's critical that we continuously evolve innovative solutions that complement our GDS partnerships and keep us a step ahead from our competitors now and in the future."
[Update, March 15, 9:45 am EDT] A Flight Centre spokesperson told BTN the deal is expected to close in a few weeks.