Technology giant Sabre Holdings' key investors, TPG and Silver Lake Partners, plan to sell 20 million shares of the company's stock, as Tnooz reported earlier this week.
Related to that stock issue, Sabre has filed preliminary, unaudited, fourth quarter 2014 results.
The statement once again says that Sabre may close an acquisition worth up to $500 million by the end of March, as Tnooz has previously reported.
Here are the highlights of the estimated ranges for fourth quarter performance, which exclude the Travelocity business segment that was sold to Expedia in January:
Total revenue is expected to be between $639 million and $654 million, a hike of between $12 million and $27 million, or 1.9% and 4.3%, for the three months ended December 31, 2014, compared to the same period a year earlier.
Fourth quarter revenue in its global distribution system division is expected to be between $429 million and $439 million, a decrease of between $11 million and $1 million, or -2.5% and -0.2%, for the three months ended December 31, 2014 compared to the same period in the prior year.
The company attributes the GDS weakness to:
"lower joint venture data processing revenues in the quarter. Stronger 2014 growth in the first three quarters of the year will result in lower revenue recognized in the fourth quarter of 2014 versus 2013 to meet the minimum annual terms of the contract.
This decline in the quarter was partially offset by increased direct billable bookings, which increased 1% year-over-year in the quarter.
Strong bookings growth in EMEA, reflecting continued share gains in the region, was offset by a modest decline in Latin America due in large part to the continued decline in travel volumes in Venezuela."
On a brighter note, fourth quarter revenue in airline and hospitality solutions divisions is expected to be between $213 million and $218 million, an increase of between $24 million and $29 million, or 12.7% and 15.4%, for the three months ended December 31, 2014 compared to a year ago.
Overall, operating income is expected to be between $99 million and $109 million, an increase of between $13 million and $23 million, or 15.4% to 27.1%, for the three months ended December 31, 2014, versus the same period for continuing operations in the prior year.
EARLIER: Sabre is ready to spend $500M, and Abacus is a likely target