As speculated last week, Amadeus is buying hotel technology provider TravelClick in a $1.52 billion deal.
The travel technology giant's acquisition of TravelClick from private equity owner Thoma Bravo is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The agreement is the biggest strategic move Amadeus has made on the hospitality tech front - firmly pitting it against Sabre and other players in the hotel reservation system arena.
New York-based TravelClick has more than 25,000 customers in 176 cities. Its cloud-based services assist mid-chain and independent hotels with business intelligence, guest management, and reservations and booking, among other initiatives.
The company had revenue of $373 million in 2017, with EBITDA in the same year of $86 million.
“Our ambition is to provide the hospitality industry with the tools they need to grow their businesses and deliver a great experience to their guests,” says Luis Maroto, president and CEO of Amadeus.
“The combination of our two portfolios will allow us to provide that to hotels of all shapes and sizes across the world.”
Francisco Perez-Lozao, senior vice president of strategic growth businesses at Amadeus, adds: “This is a huge step forward for Amadeus in hospitality. While we have already made strong progress with the large chains, TravelClick gives us access to the mid-chain and independent hotel segment that makes up almost three-quarters of the market.
"We can now serve the entire industry with a very broad portfolio of solutions, and we are looking for significant growth in the years ahead.”
Amadeus says the deal will give it immediate access to the mid-range and independent hotel sector, adding to its existing focus on top-end chains in the industry.
Thoma Bravo paid $930 million for TravelClick in 2014 from Genstar and minority owner Bain. Earlier reports suggested the firm could sell TravelClick for as much as $3 billion.
About 1,100 TravelClick employees will join Amadeus as part of the deal.