Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

Corporate Travel Management announced its acquisition of California-based Montrose Travel. It did not reveal the purchase price.

The acquisition is expected to make CTM one of the 12 largest corporate travel companies in the country. Three years after entering the U.S. market, CTM operates out of 19 cities. In recent years, it acquired a handful of U.S. travel management companies.

With the addition of Montrose Travel’s forecasted sales, CTM's total transactional value in North America is now expected to exceed $750 million next year.

Founded in Australia in 1994, CTM is a global travel management company with more than 1,800 employes. It operates in 81 cities in 53 countries.

 "Montrose Travel is an iconic business in California, operating for more than 60 years,” said Jamie Pherous, CTM’s managing director. “After working closely together for the past 12 months on programs and clients on both sides of the Pacific, we determined they meet our strict acquisition criteria; they possess a first class, passionate management team, are leaders in travel in their region, enjoy high client and staff retention, and will take ownership in CTM stock."

Pherous said the Montrose Travel acquisition will establish a California hub for CTM, growing local, regional and global clients in a strategic North American market.

"Montrose Travel has deep expertise and a reputation as one of North America's best loyalty rewards travel providers with some of the largest rewards clients in the world. Together with CTM's consumer-facing technology, and global footprint, there is an opportunity to expand the model across the USA and globally," he added.
Montrose Travel is a diversified company, with Loyalty, Independent Contactor Hosting, Corporate, Groups/Meetings/Incentives and Leisure divisions.

Its  230 employees, based in Montrose and Palmdale, California, will remain for this new venture, said Julie McClure, Montrose Travel’s CFO.

"We have a number of distinct businesses within Montrose Travel which dovetail nicely with CTM,” she said.  "Together, we will expand our reach and buying power, which gives us a global launchpad."

Andi McClure-Mysza, president of Mtravel, Montrose’s host agency, called  Montrose “a unique company with strong family values.” "First and foremost, we are excited about the excellent fit for our people, both employees and independent contractors, who are the foundation of our company."

Joe McClure, president of Montrose Travel, said the corporate values of the two companies were aligned.
"We have watched CTM build a wonderful business over the years based on highly personalized service delivery with best-in-class technology solutions; we share this same philosophy,” said McClure. "We believe CTM is an excellent fit to enhance our service offering to both current and future clients as well as to our nationwide group of independent travel professionals."

Follow @RobinAmster46