Sabre to Acquire Abacus International


Leading GDS in Asia Pacific will enable accelerated global growth for Sabre



SOUTHLAKE, Texas and SINGAPORE - Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abacus International, the leading global distribution system (GDS) in the Asia-Pacific region. Abacus is currently owned by a consortium of 11 Asian airlines along with Sabre, which has a 35% stake in the company.



Sabre will purchase the remaining portion of Abacus for net cash consideration of $411 million.



"The Asia-Pacific travel market is the largest and fastest growing in the world," said Tom Klein, Sabre President and CEO. "Acquiring Abacus immediately combines the global capabilities of Sabre with the deep local market expertise of the leading Asia-Pacific GDS. This powerful combination will give customers even more innovation and service options, while allowing Sabre to accelerate growth globally in a very capital efficient way - and to gain regional synergies in all three of our businesses serving travel agents, airlines and hospitality companies."



Abacus International President and CEO, Robert Bailey added, "With our extended network in Asia-Pacific, Abacus has built a trusted brand of unique significance and scale. We now have the opportunity to take the business forward even faster, broadening the scope within the Sabre family and with the support of our shareholder carriers. This is great news for the industry in Asia-Pacific, and we look forward to passing the benefits of integration to all sectors of this region's diverse travel community."



Abacus serves more than 100,000 travel agents across the Asia-Pacific region's 59 markets and has both global and uniquely local relationships with airlines and hotels, including the leading portfolio of low-cost content and Chinese airline content.



Separately, the acquisition includes new long-term distribution agreements between Sabre and the 11 airline owners of Abacus.



"We look forward to continuing our long-term business relationships with our former partners in Abacus, and our new agreements will provide benefits and confidence to travel agents throughout the Asia-Pacific region for many years to come," said Greg Webb, President of Sabre Travel Network.



"Abacus currently provides a broad set of services to its customers using a base of Sabre technology for the large majority of core functions to market, distribute, sell and service travel in the Asia-Pacific region," Webb added. "That, along with deep local market capabilities, will result in a smooth transition for Asia-Pacific customers, who should see the benefits of global capabilities while continuing to use our familiar, leading technology."



Abacus will operate as a region of Sabre Travel Network, and Sabre expects its expanded Asia-Pacific direct presence will benefit Sabre Airline Solutions and Sabre Hospitality Solutions, which already provide mission-critical support to 78 airlines and thousands of hotels throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Sabre also will continue its partnership to provide technology services to INFINI, a local Japanese GDS.



"Sabre and Abacus have established the gold standard for service and content in the Asia-Pacific region, and that only gets better," Klein said. "Together with Abacus, Sabre will provide customers and suppliers with improved and faster access to Sabre's industry-leading innovations, including low-cost carrier content, ancillary capabilities, data analytics, and the latest in mobile solutions and personalization services. Additionally, airlines and travel agencies will have more options for new and differentiated products and services created specifically for customers in the Asia-Pacific market."



Subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.



The acquisition, including associated working capital adjustments and cash acquired, is expected to be financed through approximately $250 million in cash on hand, augmented by incremental net debt of approximately $160 million. Pro forma for the transaction, Sabre estimates its March 31, 2015 net debt to trailing twelve months Adjusted EBITDA ratio would be 3.3x, compared to 3.0x as reported.



Assuming a third quarter closing date, Sabre expects the transaction will increase 2015 revenue by approximately $120 million, be approximately neutral to 2015 Adjusted EPS and modestly accretive to current-year Adjusted EBITDA.



In 2016, Sabre expects the transaction to increase revenue by more than $300 million, to increase Adjusted EBITDA by approximately $50 million and to be accretive to Adjusted EPS by approximately $0.05.



Conference Call



Sabre will conduct an investor conference call on Thursday, May 14 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The live webcast, including accompanying slide presentation, can be accessed via the Sabre Investor Relations website at investors.sabre.com. A recording of the call will be archived for replay following the conference call.



About the Company



Sabre Corporation is a leading technology provider to the global travel and tourism industry. Sabre's software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotels to manage vital operations, such as passenger and guest reservations, revenue management, and flight, network and crew management. Sabre also operates the world's leading travel marketplace, processing more than $110 billion of annual travel spend. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre operates in approximately 60 countries around the world.



Website Information



We routinely post important information for investors on our website, www.sabre.com, in the Investor Relations section. We intend to use this website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investor Relations section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.



Media Contact:

Pam Wong

Sabre

+44 7968 902626 (mobile)

Pam.wong@sabre.com



SOURCE Sabre Corporation



Web Site: http://www.sabre.com

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