Amadeus to Acquire Navitaire from Accenture for US$830 Million

Amadeus has confirmed that it will acquire Navitaire, a wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture, for US$830 million.

Navitaire, which focuses on the low-cost and hybrid-carrier segments of the airline industry and has a global customer base of more than 50 operators, provides revenue-generation and cost-streamlining solutions in the areas of reservations, ancillary sales, loyalty, revenue management, revenue accounting and business intelligence.

The addition of Navitaire’s portfolio of products and solutions for the low-cost segment will complement Amadeus’ Altéa suite of offerings for its largely full-service carrier customer base, giving the company the ability to serve a wider group of airlines.

Amadeus intends to market and sell the two product portfolios separately and will continue to invest in both platforms, enhancing the services and functionality availability to all types of carriers.

“Bringing Navitaire’s experience, industry know-how, client base and strong product portfolio is a significant step for Amadeus in the low-cost and hybrid-carrier segments,” said Luis Maroto, President and CEO of Amadeus. “Airlines of all shapes and sizes face an increasingly competitive market for an increasingly demanding traveler, and this transaction will give us the ability to serve all airlines with technology that can enable them to drive new revenues and contain their costs.”

As part of the acquisition, approximately 550 Navitaire employees, including the company’s senior management team, are expected to transfer to Amadeus.

Amadeus and Accenture expect to close the Navitaire acquisition in Q4 2015, following regulatory approvals.

Alliance

In a separate agreement, Accenture and Amadeus have agreed to form an alliance to help lead airlines through the digital transformation taking place in the industry and drive efficiency in the global operations of airlines’ businesses.

The alliance combines Amadeus’ and Navitaire’s industry solutions and experience with Accenture’s aviation expertise and global capabilities in technology, analytics, cloud, mobility and operations. Accenture and Amadeus will jointly focus on digital travel services, with an emphasis on commercial passenger operations in order to provide a more seamless traveler experience from “door to door”.

Under the alliance agreement, Accenture will be designated as an Amadeus “Strategic Partner” for its Airline IT business for management consulting, technology consulting, systems integration, business process outsourcing and digital services, complementing Amadeus’ existing in-house consulting and digital services.

Accenture and Amadeus have also agreed to enter into a third agreement under which Accenture will provide Amadeus with infrastructure outsourcing, application and research and development services. Accenture will continue to provide hosting services for current Navitaire clients as well as Amadeus’s future clients that purchase the Navitaire solution.

“The travel industry is a strategic market for Accenture, and we continue to grow our practice in this area to help our clients better serve their digital customers,” said Eric Schaeffer, Senior Managing Director, Accenture. “The combination of products and solutions from Accenture, Amadeus and Navitaire in this alliance will create a unique offering in the market that no single provider currently offers. We’re also excited to be leveraging our experience in the airline industry and our technology expertise to provide Amadeus with a range of outsourcing and R&D services.”