CWT (company)

For other uses of CWT, see CWT (disambiguation).
CWT
FormerlyCarlson Wagonlit Travel
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryTravel management company
Founded1994; 30 years ago (1994)
HeadquartersMinneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Area served
145 countries
Key people
Patrick Andersen, President & CEO
ServicesCorporate travel management, Event management
RevenueUS$1.5 billion
Number of employees
18,000
Websitewww.mycwt.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) is a travel management company that manages business travel, meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions, and handles event management.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company reported US$23 billion in total transaction volume in 2018.[1] It is ranked 5th on the list of top earning travel companies published by Travel Weekly.[2]

History

CWT has existed in its present form since 1994, the result of a 50%/50% merger of two large travel agencies: the Ask Mr. Foster Travel Agency chain, later called Carlson Travel Network, and the travel agency of Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (literally sleeping car), founded by Georges Nagelmackers in 1872 in Belgium and later acquired by Accor.[3]

On April 27, 2006, Accor announced the sale of its 50% interest in CWT: 5% to Carlson and 45% to One Equity Partners, an affiliate of JP Morgan Chase.[4]

On June 22, 2014, Carlson, which owned a 55% stake in CWT, agreed to acquire the 45% interest in CWT held by JPMorgan Chase.[5][6][7]

In July 2017, the company launched RoomIt by CWT, dedicated to hotel distribution.[8][9]

On February 18, 2019, the company announced that it was rebranding as CWT.[10]

On July 31, 2020, the Register reported that CWT was the victim of a ransomware incident a week earlier, in which they paid US$4.5 million.[11]

In 2022, CWT had a capital injection which resulted in Carlson becoming a minority shareholder.[12]

On March 25, 2024 rival AMEX GBT announced it's intention to buy CWT.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "CWT at a glance".
  2. ^ "Power List 2019". Travel Weekly.
  3. ^ Biesiada, Jamie (February 21, 2019). "CWT scrubs Carlson and Wagonlit from name". Travel Weekly.
  4. ^ "Accor Divests Stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel" (Press release). Hospitality Net. 27 April 2006.
  5. ^ "Carlson Announces It Will Take Full Ownership of Carlson Wagonlit Travel" (Press release). Business Wire. June 22, 2014.
  6. ^ Phelps, David (March 5, 2015). "Carlson board sharpens its focus". Minneapolis Star Tribune.
  7. ^ King, Danny (June 23, 2014). "Carlson to take full ownership of Carlson Wagonlit Travel". Travel Weekly.
  8. ^ "Carlson Wagonlit Travel launches new division dedicated to hotels – RoomIt by CWT". CWT (Press release). July 17, 2017. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  9. ^ Chaturvedi, Anumeha (July 17, 2017). "Carlson Wagonlit Travel launches new division RoomIt dedicated to hotels". The Times of India.
  10. ^ "CWT is the New Name in Digital Business Travel, Hotel Distribution, and Meetings & Events". CWT (Press release). February 18, 2019. Archived from the original on February 18, 2019. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  11. ^ "First rule of Ransomware Club is do not pay the ransom, but it looks like Carlson Wagonlit Travel didn't get the memo". The Register (Press release). July 31, 2020.
  12. ^ "Carlson Family Gives up Control of Namesake Agency CWT in Refinancing Deal". 15 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Amex GBT To Acquire CWT" (Press release). March 25, 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2024.