Amadeus, an information technology provider for global travel and tourism industry based in Madrid, confirmed on Wednesday that it will be buying Accenture's Navitaire for $830 million.
The terms of the deal include designating Accenture as a "strategic partner" of Amadeus, Money Control has learned. The company is also expecting a transfer to Amadeus of around 550 Navitaire employees, including the senior management team.
Over 50 airline operators worldwide are being provided by Navitaire with outsourced technology services focusing more on low-cost and hybrid segments in the industry of airlines. The aim of the acquisition is to improve the interconnection of carriers in the airline groups.
Navitaire will work mainly on digital service, while the existing Altea products will still be concentrating on the full airline service. Focusing on the expansion of IT service business for the airlines will drive more sales compared to reservation systems in big computers.
Adding Navitaire's portfolio will enable Amadeus, who mainly caters larger legacy airlines, to serve a broader group of airlines. Minneapolis-based Navitaire serves Brazil's Gol, Ryanair and AirAsia with revenue management, ticket reservations and flier program.
Amadeus based in Madrid link ticket sales between travel agents and airlines. It also provides services like system for crew management and reservations.
The company has been pursuing expanding low-cost carriers to attract corporate travellers, Market Watch reported. In fact, its expansion was through acquisitions, tapping on the market of hotel reservations.
The deal came a month after Deutsche Lufthansa AG, who rekindled the ongoing conflict between airlines and mediators — like Amadeus — proposed a surcharge for passengers booking through the global reservations system.
The company, which reported a revenue of $3.77 billion for Dec. 31, 2014, is expecting that this change will have a minimal impact on its financial performance this year. It's projecting to close the deal in the fourth quarter, as per the news report of First Post.
