American Express is acquiring reservations provider Tock for $400 million as the credit card company looks to deepen its ties to the restaurant industry.
Tock is currently owned by website builder Squarespace, which acquired the company for $400 million in 2021.
The deal will give Amex another tool to offer restaurants while also expanding the number of restaurant perks available to its cardholders. It also cements Amex as one of the biggest players in restaurant reservations at a time of strong demand for bookings. It has owned Resy, another large reservations system, since 2019.
Owning those platforms gives Amex another way to provide value to customers. Holders of certain Amex cards can get special benefits when they book a table through Resy, such as access to hard-to-get reservations at restaurants around the world. Amex will look to do the same with Tock, which has about 7,000 restaurants, wineries and other venues on its platform.
“We believe that as part of American Express, Tock will deliver enhanced value to our customers through access to a broad network of diners,” said Matthew Tucker, head of Tock, in a statement.
Amex customers spent $100 billion at restaurants last year, making it one of the company’s highest-volume segments within travel and entertainment, said Howard Grosfield, president of U.S. consumer services for Amex. At the end of last year, there were about 141 million American Express cards in use, according to company financial filings.
Amex on Friday also announced that it’s acquiring Rooam, which offers contactless payments and ordering for restaurants and stadiums. Rooam also integrates with a large number of POS systems.
The pair of deals gives Amex a wide range of tech products to sell to restaurants. Through Resy, Tock and Rooam, it has reservations, table management, guest surveys, data analytics, events and ticketing management, online ordering, payments and more.
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