Major travel technology provider Sabre Corporation announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Abacus International, the leading global distribution system (GDS) in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The addition of Abacus further strengthens Sabre's leading position in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region," Sabre President & CEO Tom Klein said, via a release. "Our ability to combine Sabre's strong global technology platform capabilities with Abacus' deep local market expertise will provide Asia-Pacific airline, hospitality and travel agency customers with unprecedented innovation and service options. It also makes us an ideal technology partner for global customers seeking to grow and expand in Asia-Pacific."
More than 100,000 travel agents across the Asia-Pacific region's 59 markets use Abacus. The GDS has both global and local relationships with airlines and hotels. That includes featuring the leading portfolio of low-cost airline content and Chinese airline content.
Sabre, which previously owned 35 percent of Abacus, acquired the remaining portion of Abacus for net cash consideration of $411 million.
The acquisition also includes new long-term distribution agreements between Sabre and the 11 Asian airlines that previously shared ownership of Abacus with Sabre.
The acquisition, including associated working capital adjustments and cash acquired, was financed through cash on hand, augmented by revolver borrowings of $70 million.
Sabre has also signed an agreement to acquire Abacus national marketing company, Abacus Distribution Systems (Hong Kong).
Sabre management will present further financial guidance about the Abacus acquisition during the company's next earnings conference call, which is scheduled for Aug. 4.
Sabre's solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotels. The company, which operates in 60 countries, processes more than $110 billion of travel spend each year.
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