Small Business News
American Express to Acquire Tock from Squarespace
American Express is expanding its dining platform with not one but two acquisitions.
About the acquisitions:
Today, Amex announced that it will be acquiring the restaurant reservation service Tock from Squarespace (who purchased the company in 2021). The purchase is expected to be for $400 million in cash but is subject to closing conditions, customary adjustments, and regulatory approval. Amex also notes that, as part of the deal with Squarespace, the two companies will partner “to deliver additional value to small businesses that use American Express Cards.” In particular, they mention their Amex Offers program as well as other Card Member benefits.
In addition to Tock, American Express also announced that it’s purchasing Rooam. The platform — which has become a technology partner for several restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues — offers mobile payments, point-of-sale integrations, loyalty program systems, and more. Financial details for this acquisition were not disclosed.
These two additions come five years after American Express’s purchase of Resy. According to the company, these acquisitions will bring new capabilities to that service and give restaurant owners more options. Today, Amex has continued to leverage Resy in a number of ways, most recently adding a Resy dining credit to Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card,
What they’re saying:
Commenting on the acquisition of Tock, the company’s head Matthew Tucker stated, “American Express has demonstrated its commitment to the hospitality industry, and we believe that as part of American Express, Tock will deliver enhanced value to our customers through access to a broad network of diners. We appreciate American Express’ recognition of Tock’s exceptional products, experienced team, and our first-rate customer base. We look forward to working together to broaden American Express’ world class dining program and are excited by the tremendous opportunity to continue to innovate on behalf of our customers as part of American Express.” We are also deeply appreciative of Squarespace’s support of Tock’s vision and its commitment to the business over the past three years.”
Speaking on how these businesses will benefit the Resy platform, the company’s CEO and Amex Global Dining VP Pablo Rivero said, “These acquisitions will enhance our dining platform and help us continue to support the industry’s growth.”
As for Rooam, the platform’s co-founder and CEO Junaid Shams said, “We built Rooam to make it easy for restaurants and entertainment venues to use major point of sale providers with other key technology systems crucial to hospitality operations. Combining our capabilities with American Express and Resy will power payments, marketing, and loyalty programs for hospitality providers, bringing together the digital tools they need in one platform.”
My thoughts:
With these acquisitions, it almost seems as though Amex is aiming to be the Square of table service dining systems. Anecdotally, I’ve encountered Tock far more than I have Resy, leading me to believe that this will represent a major expansion for the latter. But, of all the news to come out of the announcement, the tease of Amex and Squarespace partnering on cardholder offerings stood out the most. Considering that Amex regularly refreshes its products and has embraced a model of hiking annual fees while adding various credits to their cards, I would not be at all surprised if a monthly (or yearly) Squarespace credit were to come to one or more Amex cards in the years ahead.
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