Carlyle Says Covid Pandemic Warrants Killing AmEx Stock Deal (3)

The Covid-19 pandemic has decimated the world’s travel industry and fatally crippled a deal calling for the Carlyle Group Inc. and Singapore sovereign-wealth fund GIC Pte to buy 20% of American Express Global Business Travel, according to unsealed lawsuits.

Carlyle and GIC asked a judge in separate lawsuits to let them scrap the deal. In the lawsuits, the funds disputed claims by an investment group led by Certares Management LLC -- slated to sell the shares in the deal -- that the pandemic doesn’t provide legitimate legal grounds for pulling the plug. The $1.5 billion stock-purchase valued the travel ...