Gray Dawes Group has acquired Verve Travel and Leisure, an Australia-based travel management company (TMC) for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition, which includes leisure travel unit Bay Travel and Cruise, is Gray Dawes' sixteenth in recent years and is part of the growth strategy for the United Kingdom-based TMC, bringing its turnover to more than £600 million.
“I have long admired the business that Kathryn and Kurt Sari, and their team, have built. This latest chapter in our development marks such an exciting time for us and our clients,” said Suzanne Horner, CEO of Gray Dawes Group.
Horner also said that clients increasingly are looking for a global solution.
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“They’re taking us on the journey. We’ve been very successful picking up businesses in the U.K., Australia, the USA and Europe and integrating them. We know how to do that well. Now, we’re excited to incorporate Verve Travel into our group,” she said.
She also described the acquisition as “incredibly exciting” and said: “Out of hours, for example, is simply no longer a thing for Gray Dawes; we are now always on - there for our clients, where they need us, when they need us. And with a shared technology platform across the entire Gray Dawes operation, our clients enjoy a seamless personal service as we follow the sun around the globe from the U.K. and Europe to America, to Australia and back to Europe.”
Verve will strengthen the group’s position and global offering in both the corporate and luxury leisure travel segments, according to Horner.
“There are so many synergies across the businesses which makes this a very natural fit. By being part of the Gray Dawes Group, we will be even stronger and able to deliver enhanced global opportunities to our staff and clients alike,” said Kurt Sari, joint managing director of Verve Travel.
Gray Dawes announced the acquisition of Netherlands-based TMC VCK Travel earlier this year while the company bought Florida-based Express Travel in April 2023.