Sabre Holdings pending sale for for $4 billion?
The travel reservation company Sabre Holdings is in advanced talks to be sold to a consortium of private equity firms for more than $4 billion, according to several press reports.
A deal could come anytime.
Two investor groups are vying for Sabre, which was the original reservation system of American Airlines before being spun off as an independent business that served all of the major carriers.
The bidding group favored to win the auction includes Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group, says the New York Times.
A rival bidding group is led by Apollo Group.
“A deal would reshape the travel reservation industry, which has already undergone enormous change,” says the Times.
Last week Travelport, which owns Orbitz.com and agreed to purchase Worldspan, which provides electronic ticketing and operates the reservation systems for several airlines for $1.4 billion.
Travelport itself was acquired by the Blackstone Group earlier this year. If Sabre is taken private, all three of the largest reservation companies in the nation would be privately held.
Private equity firms have been attracted to the reservation business because of its steady cash flow, though the industry faces increasing pressure as more consumers book travel directly through the Web sites of airlines and hotels, bypassing third-party services like Sabre, according to news reports.
Private equity firms, flush with billions of dollars in cash, have been hunting travel services in recent months.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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