Expedia Group frequently talks up the benefits of its sale of corporate travel agency Egencia to American Express Global Business Travel. Benefits include: A 10-year pact to supply Amex GBT with lodging inventory, and Expedia’s equity stake in it, initially valued in 2021 at $815 million.

But in 2023, Expedia Group recorded a $26 million loss on the fair value of that stake in Amex GBT, and that came on top of a $300 million loss in 2022, according to a recent financial filing.

Expedia confirmed Monday that the fair value of its equity stake in Amex GBT was around $490 million at the end of 2023 — a 40% plunge.

That loss will not shake the financials of Expedia Group, which notched $797 million in net income in 2023 on $12.8 billion in revenue.

Expedia’s deal to sell Egencia to Amex Global Business Travel may have been advantageous to Expedia on a number of levels. It enabled Expedia to lock in that long-term deal to offer hotel stays and vacation rentals to business travelers through Amex GBT, the largest corporate travel agency in the world.

Expedia Group CEO designee Ariane Gorin played a key role in the Egencia sale to Amex GBT, an Expedia spokesperson said Monday.

The deal enabled Expedia to shed a non-core business during a period when Expedia was trying to simplify its far-flung operations. And Expedia saw the deal as innovative because it enabled the company to secure a significant minority position in the leading player in business travel without having to operate its own business travel firm. Expedia has 16% voting power in Amex GBT, has a board seat, and is the third largest shareholder.

Expedia’s Stake in Amex GBT Battered

But that Expedia equity stake in Amex Global Business Travel has taken a battering since the closing of the deal, the financial filing showed.

Here’s what happened:

• On November 1, 2021, Expedia Group sold Egencia to privately held Amex GBT in an all-stock deal. Expedia took a 19% stake in Amex GBT valued at $815 million.

• At that time, Expedia Group removed Egencia, which was part of Expedia’s B2B arm, from its results of operations, and recorded a $401 million gain.

• Amex GBT went public in a special purpose acquisition company merger in May 2022, and that deal reduced Expedia’s stake in the successor company to 16%.

• In addition, after shares started trading, Amex GBT’s price fell 14% by December 29, 2023. It’s fallen another 8% since then.

• In 2022, Expedia recognized a $300 million loss in the fair value of its Amex equity stake.

• In 2023, Expedia recorded a $26 million loss.

The Expedia-Amex GBT Partnership

An Expedia spokesperson noted that that Amex GBT was a private company when it initially estimated the value of its stake. Once its shares began trading, there was a known public value.