Sabre Corp ditches Farelogix acquisition
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 U.S. 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.
"We continue to believe that the transaction was not anti-competitive, a result confirmed by the U.S. federal district court’s decision in Sabre’s favour," said Sabre CEO Sean Menke.
Menke accused the UK regulator of ‘acting outside the bounds of its jurisdictional authority.’
"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.
"We remain committed to our long-term goal of creating a new market for personalized travel," Menke said.
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