American Express Aims to Expand Digital Dining, Access & Experiences with Acquisition of Resy Reservation Platform

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–American Express (NYSE: AXP) today announced it has signed an
agreement to acquire Resy,
the digital restaurant reservation booking and management platform. The
acquisition will build on the growing suite of digital-first benefits
and services from American Express that extend beyond traditional
rewards and points, to provide Card Members with access and experiences
across travel and lodging, airport lounges, exclusive events, and dining.

Founded in 2014, Resy offers a table management, CRM and booking
technology suite for restaurants, with a consumer-facing restaurant
reservation app and website to elevate and enhance dining experiences
worldwide. Resy currently works with approximately 4,000 restaurants in
154 U.S. cities and 10 countries, seating more than 2.6 million diners a
week. The acquisition is expected to be completed in summer 2019 and
builds on a number of recent acquisitions made by American Express in
the dining, travel and lifestyle space that are part of the company’s
strategy to become an essential part of Card Members’ and merchants’
digital lives.

“Resy was created to both connect people who love dining out with new,
notable and hard to get into restaurants across the globe, as well as
help restaurants’ businesses grow and thrive. Similarly, American
Express has strong relationships with premium dining partners and
restaurants across the globe, and provides our Card Members with access
to incredible dining experiences through our exclusive benefits and
programs,” said Chris Cracchiolo, Senior Vice President, Global Loyalty
and Benefits, American Express. “We look forward to working with the
Resy team to continue to grow the Resy digital platform, and develop new
ways to further connect our Card Members and restaurant partners through
unique access and experiences.”

Resy has built important relationships across the restaurant industry,
with the mission of powering the world’s best restaurants using
technology to imagine the future of hospitality. Focused primarily in
the U.S. but with locations in the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia,
Resy offers restaurants sophisticated reservation management solutions
at affordable pricing that are designed to help restaurants optimize
tables and increase revenue, while at the same time providing consumers
with a seamless booking experience with the top restaurants across the
globe.

“American Express is a brand that we have admired and sought to partner
with from our inception. There are myriad points of synergy between Resy
and American Express that we look forward to pursuing together in the
name of creating an end-to-end global dining platform that thrills both
diners and restaurants alike. As it does today, Resy will continue to
focus on delivering world-class hospitality software to our amazing
restaurant partners, connecting diners to insider experiences, and
reimagining the future of dining,” said Resy’s co-founder and CEO, Ben
Leventhal.

In line with this news, American Express is working with recently
acquired companies—personal travel assistant app Mezi, UK dining
reservation platform Cake Technologies, airport lounge discovery and
booking platform LoungeBuddy, and Japanese premium restaurant
reservation platform Pocket Concierge, to develop a suite of new digital
capabilities that will provide unique digital services, experiences, and
access for American Express customers.

After the acquisition, the Resy brand and digital platform will continue
to be led and operated by its co-founder and CEO, Ben Leventhal. Resy’s
co-founder and CTO, Michael Montero, will also remain in place.
Additionally, existing Resy reservation booking and management services
and capabilities will continue to be offered.

Information Related to Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements that reflect
management’s expectations about future events, including expectations
regarding the transaction. These forward-looking statements are subject
to risks and uncertainties. The words “expect,” “aim,” “plan,” “will,”
“may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” and similar expressions are intended
to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date on which they are made. American Express undertakes
no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the parties’
ability to satisfy the closing conditions, the underlying assumptions
related to the transaction proving to be inaccurate or unrealized, and
the company’s ability to integrate Resy and leverage its platform. A
further description of these and other risks and uncertainties can be
found in American Express’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2018 and its other reports filed with the SEC.

ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS

American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing
customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich
lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com
and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress,
instagram.com/americanexpress,
linkedin.com/company/american-express,
twitter.com/americanexpress,
and youtube.com/americanexpress.

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ABOUT RESY

Resy is a hospitality technology company, built for and powered by
restaurant lovers. We connect the world’s most sought-after restaurants
with the best guests around the globe.

Resy offers superior reservation management software and a
consumer-facing restaurant reservation app to elevate and enhance dining
experiences worldwide. Resy works with approximately 4,000 restaurants
in 154 U.S. cities and 10 countries, seating over 2.6 million diners a
week. Resy boasts an industry-low, global no-show rate of approximately
2%.

Consumers can book and manage reservations on Resy.com and on the app
from a carefully curated selection of the world’s most distinguished
restaurants, including n/naka in Los Angeles and Lilia in New York City.
Users now have even better access to restaurants thanks to an enhanced
Notify waitlist system, which sends alerts when hard-to- get
reservations become available. The app is free and available for
download on both iOS and Android.

Resy was co-founded by Ben Leventhal, cofounder of Eater and restaurant
industry entrepreneur; Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur, investor,
author; and Michael Montero, founder of CrowdTwist and Fotolog and noted
CTO. Resy’s investors and partners include Airbnb, RSE Ventures, First
Data, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Slow Ventures, TOMS Capital and Union
Square Hospitality Group.

Learn more about Resy at resy.com

Contacts

AMERICAN EXPRESS
Heather Norton
212-640-0496
Heather.A.Norton@aexp.com

RESY
Vanessa
Leitman
917-929-3304
Vanessa@resy.com