Sabre Corp expects to close a deal to buy Farelogix next week and has given the US Department of Justice an ultimatum.
The DOJ must file a complaint to block the takeover by August 21 or the deal goes through, Sabre said.
The DOJ has made a ‘lengthy and exhaustive review of the transaction’ and now needs to quickly file an objection to block it in a federal court.
"We are incredibly excited to close our acquisition of Farelogix so that airlines, travel agents, corporations and travelers can benefit from the end-to-end next-generation retailing solutions," said Sabre CEO, Sean Menke.
"Over the past nine months, we believe we have done all we can do to address the DOJ’s concerns. While we hope the DOJ will ultimately recognise that this transaction is pro-competitive, we are prepared to vigorously defend the deal in court."
Sabre says a merger will drive innovation, enabling airlines to accelerate their growth and offer enhanced customer service.
It will also speed up the delivery of the industry’s first end-to-end NDC-enabled solution, it says.
Sabre and Farelogix don’t expect a DOJ legal challenge but have extended the termination date of the acquisition agreement to April 30 2020, just in case.
