American Express acquires TheFork, the European restaurant-reservation platform, from Tripadvisor for $700m in cash. The payments company announced the proposed deal on Monday, adding a booking network of more than 50,000 restaurants across 11 European countries to a dining business it has been quietly assembling for years.
The structure is an all-cash put-option agreement, a common European setup: Amex grants Tripadvisor the option, an employee works-council consultation runs, and once Tripadvisor exercises it the two sign a definitive purchase agreement. The companies expect it to close before the end of 2026, subject to that consultation and regulatory approvals.
For Tripadvisor it is a planned exit, not a surprise. It said in February it was exploring strategic alternatives for TheFork, and is selling to concentrate on its Experiences business, Viator. Goldman Sachs advised Tripadvisor.
This is not really a restaurant play. It is a loyalty play. Amex makes its money keeping affluent cardholders engaged and spending, and a hard-to-get dinner reservation is one of the stickiest perks a card can offer.
The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!TheFork is the third piece. Amex already owns Resy and Tock, the US and global booking platforms, and it says the three together will push its dining network past 75,000 bookable venues. The logic is to own the reservation layer end-to-end, in the US and now across Europe, so that booking a table, paying for it, and earning rewards all happen inside the Amex ecosystem.
