The private equity arm of TPG will acquire Sabre’s hospitality solutions business for $1.1 billion in cash, the companies said Monday.
“This divestiture positions Sabre to focus on our core airline IT and travel marketplace platforms,” said Kurt Ekert, president and CEO of Sabre, the Texas-based travel technology provider, which will now mainly provide airlines with software and services.
Out of the $1.1. billion, Sabre expects to receive about $960 million in net proceeds after taxes and fees. Sabre said it would use most of that for debt reduction.
Sabre’s Hospitality Solutions unit evolved from Sabre’s 2005 acquisition of SynXis, a central reservations systems that hotels use to collect and process bookings via their websites and apps.
The division provides software and solutions to dozens of hotel brands, representing about 5 million hotel rooms at last publicized count, including hotels affiliated with Hyatt, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and Preferred Hotel Group.
The software-as-a-service platform allows hotels to manage room inventory, rates, and reservations from hotel websites and apps, but also through third parties like online travel agencies. Companies with products that have overlapping services include Amadeus, Oracle, Vertical Booking CRS, SHR’s Windsurfer, and Accor’s D-Edge.
Skift reported last September that sources said Sabre was seeking buyers for the hospitality solutions unit, though the company declined to comment at the time. In 2022, Skift reported Sabre had begun to prep the unit for sale.
Implications for Sabre
Sabre’s overall recovery from the pandemic has depended heavily on one of its highest margin segments, business travel by large corporations, which has been slow to recover. That has made it difficult for the company to pay down debts.
It had $4.49 million in debt as of the end of December, but it had generated only $326 million in revenue last year.
This unit sale should help Sabre focus on its core business of providing global distribution and passenger system services to airlines.
For the deal, Evercore serves as Sabre’s financial advisor, while William Blair advises TPG. The companies expect the deal to close by September, subject to regulatory approval.
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