Travel M&A activity heating up as experts see readiness in buyers, sellers

Investors Matt Zito and Min Liu have sat front row as travel merger and acquisition activity has warmed up over the last couple of years, with plenty of attention-grabbing moves in the third quarter of this year, following those that happened in the first and second quarters of 2024.

“For the M&A side, we're definitely on top,” said Zito, managing partner of TSI, which serves as a broker for travel mergers and acquisitions and also provides consulting services to startups. “There's a lot of activity coming from both buyers and sellers.”

Liu, a managing director at investment banking firm Cambon Partners, said that in 2024 the company recorded about 470 deals. That performance is very robust with a year-over-year view, she said, noting the market is vibrant in general.

In comparison to last year, the entire environment is amplified, Zito said, which he attributes to a number of factors. 

First, buyers have realized that a recession isn’t happening, so money has been freed up on their balance sheets, and with the pandemic behind us, earnings are improving so there is cash available to deploy. 

And on the sell side, Liu said consolidation is a big trend, particularly since companies run by older generations are feeling ready to sell. 

“When you think about consolidation, you often think about how to get more revenue, so [corporations] need to focus on getting more revenue, but in an efficient way, right?” Liu said. “So, they do this because they need to expand their product offering, they need to increase their client coverage, they need to expand in geographic areas.”

Liu and Zito also discussed valuations, funding trends and more in a wide-ranging interview in the PhocusWire studio at The Phocuswright Conference 2024 in Phoenix.

Watch or listen to the full discussion with senior reporter Morgan Hines below.