WorldTravel BTI parent BCD Holdings N.V. signed an agreement to acquire the business travel entities of a large European corporate travel company, and has acquired an ownership position of a U.K. travel management company. BCD Holdings will combine the assets of these companies with its business travel subsidiaries in North and South America and in Europe to form the world's third largest global travel management company with reach into the world's key travel markets. The new company will operate under a single ownership and management structure and will launch a new brand shortly. BCD Holdings has signed an agreement to acquire TUI's business travel subsidiary, TQ3 Travel Solutions Management Holding GmbH, subject to regulatory approval. It has also acquired an ownership position in The Travel Company, a U.K.-based corporate travel agency. After receiving regulatory approval, BCD Holdings expects to close the TUI transaction in March 2006. (The transaction does not include any other affiliates of the TQ3 Travel Solutions GmbH network or any ownership in this network). BCD Holdings will abandon the TQ3 brand name upon completion of the transaction and combine the capabilities and assets of TQ3 with those of The Travel Company and its wholly owned travel management subsidiaries. BCD Holdings' new combined global company—to be named shortly—will boast $8 billion in annual sales and a worldwide work force of 10,000.
