Iberia offer by TPG - Back door to Amadeus???

Implications: Iberia is one of the owners of Amadeus, currently the #1 Global Distribution System in the world.  TPG most recently purchased Sabre, the #1 Global Distribution System in the largest GDS market in the world, the US.

TPG also has an interest, through its venture arm, in G2Switchworks, one of the early GDS New Entrants (otherwise known as GNEs). 

So could this be a back door move to buy a share in Amadeus, in order to merge Amadeus, G2 and Sabre?d

Time will tell.


Analysis: Founded in 1987 by Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa and SAS, Amadeus is the youngest of the four global GDS companies and the only one based in Europe.

An early believer in European economic unity, Amadeus has its main offices throughout Europe, is present in over 200 markets and has a workforce of 3,950 people made up of over 25 nationalities.

The company merged with Continental’s System One in 1995, thus expanding into the United States and Asia-Pacific. Continental was an Amadeus shareholder until 1999, when it sold off its 12% stake in Amadeus’ initial public offering (IPO). SAS is also no longer a shareholder.

At the end of 2006 the company was in more countries than any other GDS and had the greatest number of billable bookings.


With the pending merger of Travelport and Worldspan, Amadeus is in danger of losing its #1 position globally.  Likewise Sabre is in danger of losing its #1 position in the US. 

With TPG's new ownership of Sabre, the Iberia move makes sense, as it would then own two of the largest GDS companies, but also the GDS New Entrant. 

We will stay tuned to this story and report our observations.