Serko has closed its $12 million acquisition of online booking platform GetThere from Sabre and has begun the post-merger integration process, the company announced.
The closing, in which Serko has paid $10 million cash and will pay an additional $2 million in cash or shares late this year, is on schedule with the Jan. 6 date given when the companies announced the acquisition last October. The deal also initiated a long-term partnership between Sabre and Serko, including co-development and investment as well as Sabre’s North American sales team co-selling and marketing Serko’s solutions.
The acquisition makes Serko the second-largest corporate online booking provider in North America, behind only Concur.
GetThere VP Brett Dowling said the GetThere team is “well on the way to a successful post-merger integration.” GetThere team members in India, the U.K. and Australia have already transitioned to Serko, and GetThere’s U.S. team members will be doing the same in February, according to Serko.
Serko said it already has begun expanding the GetThere team and plans “an accelerated investment in product and technology” building from its development hub in Bengaluru, India.
Serko will invest $100 million over the next three years “to advance our platform technology to build the travel platform of the future,” according to Serko CEO Darrin Grafton. “In time, this platform will power all of Serko’s products, including GetThere, Zeno and Booking.com for Business with data and AI built in to help you take advantage of emerging technology capabilities.”
