American Express Global Business Travel secures approval for $540m deal with CWT
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Compass Lexecon assisted American Express Global Business Travel (‘Amex GBT’) during global merger reviews related to the acquisition of CWT. The deal faced regulatory scrutiny, including a Phase II investigation by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (‘CMA’) and an antitrust lawsuit by the US Department of Justice (‘DoJ’). Amex GBT closed the deal in the third quarter of 2025 after the CMA had unconditionally approved the merger and the DoJ dismissed its challenge of the transaction.
Situation
In March 2024, Amex GBT and CWT agreed to a transaction by which Amex GBT would acquire CWT.
Our role
A Compass Lexecon team provided economic advice to Amex GBT in connection with review of the transaction by the UK CMA and the US DoJ. This included extensive analysis of the Parties’ bidding data to assess the closeness of competition between the Parties and their competitors.
Outcome
The transaction was cleared unconditionally by the UK CMA in March 2025, marking a reversal of CMA’s initial position in the Interim Report. It was the first clearance under the CMA's new Phase 2 regime: a shift towards a more centralised and faster decision-making body for UK merger control. While the US DoJ initially filed a lawsuit to block the deal, the DOJ dismissed its challenge in July 2025, which allowed the Parties to close the deal in Q3 of 2025.
The team
The Compass Lexecon team was headed by Jorge Padilla, including Maria Friese, Johannes Odenkirchen, Laura Ashirepbay, Max Dreher, Lily Chang, Ann-Christine Schwegmann, Daniel Ball and Tomás Rebelo De Andrade. They assisted Amex GBT’s external counsel from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, led by Jackie Holland and Enrique González Díaz.