Flight Centre Group (FLT) has announced it is expanding into Latin America – one of the fastest growing travel markets – with a preliminary agreement to acquire a corporate travel business in Mexico.
The non-binding agreement was revealed today and is still subject to further work and approval by the FLT board. However, FLT expects the deal will be complete within the next few months.
Flight Centre has not revealed how much the acquisition will cost, however, expects the business to contribute a small profit to FLT’s 2015/16 results.
The Mexico City-based Koch Overseas de Mexico has been operating since 1950 and currently employs around 100 people in offices located in Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla and Cancun.
According to FLT, the business is already closely aligned with the Group and is currently part of the global FCM Travel Solutions network, which FLT created in 2004.
FLT’s MD says the acquisition will enhance the company’s ability to compete and win corporate travel accounts throughout the Americas.
“Having a company-owned presence in Mexico is a natural extension of our business in North America, which now includes more than 550 shops and businesses in the United States and Canada, and will provide a springboard for further growth in the region.”
Graham Turner, FLT Managing Director
FLT now has about 2800 shops and businesses in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.
After starting as a leisure travel agency, the company is now also one of the world’s largest corporate travel managers through a network of specialist brands that includes FCm, Corporate Traveller, cievents, Campus Travel and Stage & Screen.
