I saw the Press Release announcing you’ve closed your acquisition of Bags. What does Bags do? What’s its business?

Bags is based in Orlando, FL and combines high-end customer service with innovative technologies to provide remote baggage handling and related guest services for, among others, the airline, cruise, hospitality and convention industries. Clients include major airlines and leading resorts and theme parks, among others. Bags operates in more than 250 U.S. cities and handles more than 5 million checked bags annually.

For example:

• Bags offers remote airline check-in services so travelers can check their luggage in advance at a resort, convention center, cruise ship/port, car rental return location and other destinations before they arrive at the airport. Travelers receive their baggage claim checks, and in many cases their boarding passes, so they can proceed directly through security and to their gate once they reach the terminal.
• Bags provides skycap services for many leading airlines.
• For many airlines, Bags provides lost bag delivery services. When a lost or delayed bag finally arrives at the proper airport destination, Bags delivers the bag to the passenger’s designated destination – whether a residence, hotel or office building.
• Bags provides baggage replacements and performs baggage repair services for customers on behalf of many of the leading airlines.
• Bags also provides wheelchair services and a few other services at airports on behalf of the airport or airlines.

If you’re curious and would like to learn more about Bags, visit its website at www.bagsinc.com. Once the acquisition is consummated, of course, we’ll update our SP+ website (www.spplus.com) to reflect our broader menu of service offerings.

Does Bags operate parking garages?

Not in any meaningful sense. Bags does provide some valet service for a limited number of hotels and airports.

Why did SP+ decide to acquire Bags?

As with any company – and especially a public company – we’re always looking for ways to grow in a manner that makes financial sense for our business. We believe our acquisition of Bags fits that bill because it will promote growth by diversifying our business:

• We’ll be adding new service offerings that are complementary to, and not in competition with, the transportation-related services we currently offer.
• Because Bags’ core business is different than ours, the acquisition also will diversify our client base. Clients for SP+ airport operations typically are the airport municipalities, whereas a large portion of Bags’ clients are the airlines themselves. For our non-airport operations, our client relationships are with municipalities, universities and the owners and managers of commercial real estate across a variety of markets. So there will be little, if any, overlap among our respective existing clients.

This increased diversification in our service offerings and client base will present distinct cross-selling opportunities in those areas where we serve similar clients. We will be able to offer Bags’ services within our existing SP+ client base (for example, our convention center and hospitality clients may be especially interested in Bags’ remote airline check-in services). Similarly, our ability to offer various SP+ services at venues in which Bags operates may appeal to some existing Bags clients.

Will this acquisition change the way SP+ operates its business?

No. The two businesses will continue operating separately and independently from each other, just as they’re doing now. So it will be “business as usual” for SP+, without change. Similarly, Bags will continue operating in “business as usual” mode for the most part, too.

Will there be branding changes?

No, we don’t contemplate any branding changes for either company.

So how will this acquisition affect existing SP+ vendors?

It won’t. We’ll continue to operate as we historically have, without change in our sourcing practices, processes or policies.