Revealed in an update to the ASX on Tuesday morning, the acquisition will allow the Auckland headquartered business to take control of all intellectual property for GetThere, and absorb staff currently managing the well-subscribed Sabre tool.
Serko’s push on North America will also see the company partner with Sabre to invest in bringing more tech functionality to the corporate travel segment, as well as put in place incentives to sell Serko solutions, such as performance bonuses and revenue share models.
These functionality updates include initiatives that will help minimise friction for travellers, and increase efficiency for TMCs and corporations, as well as a streamlining of processes to reduce disruption to payments and expense reconciliations.
“We have been closely monitoring how we can scale in North America, which would expand our business in a NZ$400 billion business travel market,” Serko CEO Darrin Grafton said.
“This partnership…is a logical step…with targeted growth in the US strengthening our position.” The formal purchase is expected to be cleared in Jan next year, with US$10 million in cash payable at that time, followed by US$2 million later in 2025.
Serko has laid down the ambition to become a $250 million revenue business by 2030.
Detailed in the company’s unaudited financial update for the six months to 30 Sep 2024, Serko posted an 18% increase to NZ$42.7 million in revenue when contrasted with the first half of the financial year.
Drivers of revenue were listed by CEO Darrin Grafton as higher customer acquisition and larger volumes of unmanaged travel in the market.
While there has been growth in total income, the corporate travel tech company is still in the red, posting a $5.1 million loss for the latest six-month period.
Serko has been slowly working its way toward a profit, cutting down its net loss after tax by $3.6 million on the first half.
The company’s 2025 outlook predicts total income to fall into the range of $85 to $92 million for the full year.
