Mercator, a company backed by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, has acquired Seattle-based Revenue Management Systems (RMS), which runs revenue management products for more than 70 airlines, including AirAsia, Avianca Brasil, Flydubai, Jetstar, and Ryanair.
The parties did not disclose the terms of the deal.
Dubai-based Mercator describes itself as "a provider of software platforms and product-led solutions to the global travel, transportation, and logistics industry."
Correction, 13 April: The company said these numbers were incorrect. Sorry. has about 400 employees and about 130 airlines as clients.
It offers many services to many verticals, but it is perhaps best known to many readers for its software that helps airlines track cargo and baggage, run loyalty programmes, and perform passenger service system (PSS) functions.
The company recently noted on its blog that it would like to help airlines use analytics to make customized offers to travelers, something that it's our interpretation that RMS's technology may help with.
In 2014, Warburg Pincus bought Mercator from dnata, owned by Emirates. The IT company was launched by Emirates Group in 1995. It employs about 400 people in Dubai and lists more than 125 airlines as its clients.
Two months ago, Warburg Pincus made Cormac Whelan chief executive of Mercator. Whelan was previously the CEO of Datalex, the digital retail platform maker, and chairman of Boxever, the traveler intelligence platform. Whelan said in a statement:
“RMS not only has a leadership position in airline revenue management, but is now applying its state of the art predictive and optimization models to other segments of the transportation industry, including rail and cargo. We see tremendous opportunity to expand RMS’s market scope and integrate its offerings with other products.”
In a related move, it was only four months ago that private equity giant Blackstone took a $170 million minority stake in IBS Software, a system that similar to Mercator and that is based in India.
At a broader level across travel categories, revenue management software has seen a lot of activity, of late, with many companies using software-as-a-service models and the latest predictive analytical models to help hotels, vacation rental managers, and other brands optimize their revenue.
Earlier: Blackstone back in travel tech with $170 million IBS Software deal
NB: Image courtesy Mercator.