Franchises Meld Into TMC

BTN Online:

9 of Uniglobe Travel International’s top agency franchises and a franchisor division have merged to create a separate $200 million consolidated travel management company that will focus on corporate accounts of up to $20 million in annual air, car and hotel spending, the company’s leaders announced last week.

On average, the members of Uniglobe Travel Partners handle accounts of $8 million to $10 million, but the merger will enable them to add large multinational clients to its portfolio of 225 major accounts, according to Marie Magliano, president of the newly formed company. ‘We are going to take it to the next level,’ she said. Corporate accounts will comprise 65% of our business, 10% of which is meetings, according to Magliano.

The 9 agencies came together in an equity shareholder, joint ownership deal in June 2006 and the franchisor division joined in January 2007. Uniglobe Travel Partners has 13 offices in 11 U.S. cities, including New York, San Francisco and Houston. The company remains part of the Uniglobe network, which has more than 700 franchises in 30 countries.