CAE will acquire Sabre’s AirCentre airline operations portfolio for $392.5 million.
The agreement includes the Sabre AirCentre product portfolio, related technology and intellectual property as well as a transfer of AirCentre’s 500-person workforce to CAE.
Based in Canada, CAE provides training and operational support solutions in civil aviation, defense and security and healthcare.
With the acquisition, CAE will expand its reach beyond pilot training to help establish itself as a technology leader in flight and crew operations solutions.
Sabre’s AirCentre counts more than 150 airline customers with a portfolio that includes crew management, flight management, movement management and airport management.
"Sabre's AirCentre business is highly valued by many of the world's leading airlines, nearly all of whom are customers of CAE today. This acquisition will significantly expand CAE's capabilities across a large airline customer base and allows us to deliver on our objective to help our civil aviation customers operate their businesses with the highest levels of efficiency and precision," says CAE president and CEO Marc Parent.
Sabre says the divestiture marks another step toward fulfilling its vision to create a new marketplace for personalized travel.
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"This divestiture is an important strategic move that will allow us to focus on our forward-looking plans and on accelerating our growth as we continue to transform our business and build on our strong momentum over the past three years," says Sabre president and CEO Sean Menke.
"By selling AirCentre to a company committed to growth in the area of airline operations, we can create more value for Sabre, its shareholders and AirCentre customers while we remain laser-focused on the areas of our business that will help drive revenue opportunities for Sabre and our customers – now and in the future."
Pre-pandemic, AirCentre generated approximately $150 million in revenue in 2019 and approximately $55 million EBITDA for the same period.
For CAE, AirCentre is its ninth acquisition since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.