Enterprise Holdings is acquiring corporate travel technology
platform Deem and will maintain it as an autonomous operation while providing
the resources to speed up Deem's development plans.
The deal is expected to close within 30 days, Enterprise
Holdings executive vice president and chief strategy officer Greg Stubblefield
said. Deem will stay in its Silicon Valley headquarters and retain its
executive team, including CEO John Rizzo. Stubblefield said that was an
important term of the acquisition.
"We looked at Deem as a company that can bring better
solutions to the travel industry," Stubblefield said. "Deem has a
great platform and partnerships with agencies and travel management companies,
so the value we can bring is from a resource point of view and a human resource
point of view to help them build out that platform."
Enterprise and Deem already have an established
relationship, as Enterprise has been an investor in Deem for several years,
Stubblefield said. Enterprise's EHIDirect booking platform for small and
midsize enterprises is powered by Deem technology, and last year, the companies
teamed up on a car-and-driver service for travelers in China. They are looking
at offering similar services in other geographies, he said.
For Deem, it will be "business as usual," Rizzo
said. The company over the past few years has narrowed its focus to managed
travel and ground transportation, including the launch of its Work Fource
platform and the Ground Work ground technology platform within that.
"With Enterprise, it will be a whole different world,"
Rizzo said. "There's a long list of things on the road map like in the
ride-hailing area and integrating more deeply on that, and customers should
feel that we're moving faster."
"Business as usual" also means that Deem also will
continue to work with competing car rental suppliers, including providing
content and agreements like its recent deal to provide Avis India's chauffeured
services through Deem.
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Source: Business Travel News