Sabre Wins Antitrust Challenge to $360 Million Purchase of Competitor Farelogix
Southlake travel technology company Sabre Corp. won the right to buy competitor Farelogix by surviving an antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. government.
A federal judge in Delaware ruled in favor of Sabre in its planned $360 million acquisition of Farelogix, a firm that government lawyers considered necessary to challenge Sabre’s dominant position as an airline booking provider.
The Justice Department argued that Sabre bought the competing company to rob airlines of an alternative. But Judge Leonard Stark of the U.S. District Court in Delaware ruled in favor of Sabre, which will prevent U.S. antitrust officials from blocking the deal.
"This federal court ruling supports our view that the Sabre-Farelogix acquisition is not anti-competitive,” said a statement from Sabre spokeswoman Kristin Hay.
Sabre is still waiting on a decision from antitrust authorities in the United Kingdom, which is expected to come later this week.
Both Sabre and Farelogix provide technology systems that help airlines, such as American Airlines, sell tickets to passengers. Sabre operates a “global distribution system” that allows airlines, travel agents, hotels, car rental agencies and other companies to manage inventory in real-time across the world.
The Justice Department argued that Sabre operated an outdated technology that was threatened by competitors such as Miami-based Farelogix. Sabre said Farelogix runs a complementary software and wasn’t a direct competitor.
Sabre controls about half of the world’s booking market, according to the Justice Department.
Sabre was a part of American Airlines until it was spun off in 2000. It once owned the Travelocity brand, which it later sold to Expedia. Sabre’s 2019 revenues were almost $4 billion.
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