American Express buys TheFork in $700m Tripadvisor deal

American Express has agreed to buy TheFork, the restaurant booking app owned by Tripadvisor, for $700 million, in a move that hands the card giant one of Europe’s largest dining platforms and a firmer foothold in its fastest-growing market.

The all-cash deal, announced by American Express, will lift the group’s bookable dining network to 75,000 venues and reinforce an international business that has outpaced the rest of the company for years. The transaction is expected to complete by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approval.

For Amex, dining has become far more than a perk. Rafa Marquez, president of international card services, said owning TheFork would strengthen the group’s ability to put its members in front of the restaurants they want. “Dining is one of the most important ways people engage with our brand,” he said. “TheFork has built a successful platform across Europe with strong relationships throughout the restaurant industry that would complement our existing capabilities.”

The purchase is the latest step in a dining strategy that Amex has been building for the best part of a decade. It bought the reservations platform Resy in 2019, which now offers cardholders early notifications and access to hard-to-get tables, and two years ago completed a $400 million acquisition of Tock, a booking business first launched in 2014. The group has also been broadening its small-business proposition and, through its restaurant grant programme, has positioned itself as a backer of independent operators at a difficult moment for the sector.

Founded in Paris in 2007, TheFork lets diners find and book tables online and works with more than 50,000 restaurants across 11 European countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Almir Ambeskovic, its chief executive, said the company was created “to help restaurants thrive and to make it easier for diners to discover and enjoy great restaurants”. He added: “American Express shares our commitment to innovation, service and hospitality. Together, we have a unique opportunity to accelerate our mission, bringing even more value to restaurants while creating richer and more seamless experiences for millions of diners across Europe.”

The sale comes after sustained pressure on Tripadvisor, which has struggled to shake off pandemic-era disruption and competition from rivals such as Booking Holdings and Airbnb, as well as newer entrants reshaping the online booking market, including Google’s AI-powered reservation tool. The activist investor Starboard Value had pushed the company to sell TheFork, which it has owned since 2014. Jeff Smith, Starboard’s chief executive, argued last October that TheFork was the least-integrated and easiest part of the business to break off, before the hedge fund grew more agitated in February, criticising the pace of Tripadvisor’s strategic review and urging management to explore a sale of the whole company.

Stephen Squeri, chairman and chief executive of American Express, said he was “excited about the opportunity to deepen our relationship with Tripadvisor”, adding that the two firms could “create even greater value for customers and partners” across dining, travel and experiences. Matt Goldberg, Tripadvisor’s chief executive, said the deal reflected “the tangible value” across the group’s portfolio.

The market reaction was positive on both sides. Tripadvisor shares, which have fallen more than 65 per cent over five years, closed up 1.2 per cent in New York on Monday night, while American Express shares ended the day 3.1 per cent higher.