American Express announced last week an agreement to acquire reservations, table, and event management technology provider, Tock from Squarespace for $400 million. In a dual announcement, the credit card company will also be acquiring Rooam — a mobile payment, ordering, and integrations tech company — for an undisclosed sum.
With the acquisition of Tock, American Express will become more of an integral player in the restaurant reservations industry, as the credit card company already owns Tock’s now-former competitor, Resy. In 2019, American Express acquired Resy from former CEO Ben Leventhal, who eventually left the reservations platform to form his own digital loyalty startup, Blackbird Labs.
With its two latest acquisitions, American Express is expanding “the company’s suite of digital tools for restaurants and merchants” with the additional goal of expanding experiences and tools for AmEx cardholders on the consumer side.
“We’ve been offering unique dining benefits, exclusive access, and special experiences to our Card Members for years through Resy and Global Dining Access by Resy; now, we can connect even more premium customers with the most exciting restaurants, while providing merchants and restaurants more technology to help their businesses thrive,” Howard Grosfield, president, U.S. consumer services for American Express, said in a statement. “We will be able to offer restaurants the tools to deliver more personalized hospitality, facilitate pre-paid experiences like tasting menus, and provide more convenient ways for customers to pay the bill.”
Tock was launched independently in 2014 as a restaurant reservations platform by cofounder Nick Kokonas (who also founded Chicago fine-dining restaurant, Alinea), and later acquired by Squarespace in 2021. The company currently offers reservations, table management, and event booking for 7,000 foodservice venues nationally. Tock’s suite of restaurant partnerships will be added to Resy’s portfolio under the American Express dining platform. Additionally, as part of the acquisition, Squarespace is partnering with American Express to provide extra benefits for small businesses who use AmEx cards under the Amex Offers program.
“We appreciate American Express’ recognition of Tock’s exceptional products, experienced team, and our first-rate customer base,” Matthew Tucker, head of Tock, said in a statement. “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.”
The acquisition of Rooam, meanwhile, will add new merchant tools to the Resy dashboard, allowing Resy operator customers to add personalized marketing and loyalty features, and making American Express’ dining platform more of an end-to-end technology suite.
Both transactions are subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval, before they become official.
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