Carlson to Regain Full Ownership of Carlson Wagonlit Travel

With the sale of TGI Fridays Restaurants, Carlson will acquire full ownership of Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), because it sees “opportunities for continued success by growing that business,” said Trudy Rautio, president and CEO of Carlson.

In a deal that is expected to close in July, Carlson said it will purchase 45 percent equity interest held by JPMorgan Chase & Co., thus giving it 100 percent ownership of CWT.

Carlson announced in May that it planned to sell Fridays to Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtison Capital Partners, a deal that is also slated to close in July.

“This acquisition positions Carlson at the center of its core strengths: hotel and travel management,” said Rautio. “Carlson’s portfolio will be even more focused and concentrated.”

Furthermore, Carlson plans to look toward emerging economies. “We want to capitalize on the growth opportunities we are seeing in emerging economies, especially Asia, as well as continue to capture growth in our meetings and events business as well as other niche focus areas,” said Raito. “CWT also has a strong management team in place that has propelled it to achieve excellent results.”

Rautio noted that CWT is the largest travel management company in the world, a position it has held since 2007. She said the company plans to continue to develop its mobile platform, CWT to Go.

Source: Travel Pulse, http://www.travelpulse.com/news/business-travel/carlson-to-regain-full-ownership-of-carlson-wagonlit-travel.html