Travel tech firm Sabre Corp. has abandoned its controversial attempt to acquire rival Farelogix for $360 million.
The deadline expired at the end of April and both firms agreed there was no way forward to complete a merger, particularly in the current situation.
Sabre scored a legal victory over the US Department of Justice, which had tried to block it over anti-competitive concerns.
Yet just a day later the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority blocked the merger for similar reasons.
Sabre CEO Sean Menke said: "We continue to believe that the transaction was not anti-competitive, a result confirmed by the US federal district court’s decision in Sabre’s favour."
Menke accused the UK regulator of ‘acting outside the bounds of its jurisdictional authority’.
The CMA said: "We never take decisions to block mergers lightly and in this case the evidence of harm is clear," the CMA said.
UK authorities said a merger would effectively remove a major rival of Sabre and it would limit innovation.
Menke said: "We remain committed to our long-term goal of creating a new market for personalised travel."
