April 29 (Reuters) – Spanish travel technology firm Amadeus on Wednesday announced a plan to acquire French biometrics company Idemia Public Security, which is owned by Advent International, for 1.2 billion euros ($1.40 billion) in an all-cash deal.
Amadeus, which operates the world’s largest travel booking system, described the acquisition as immediately earnings-accretive, expecting it to accelerate its growth in airports and border checkpoints while enhancing the firm’s global presence.
The combination of the two businesses should increase Amadeus’ total addressable market, or total revenue opportunity, to 50 billion euros from 41 billion, it said.
“Potentially a good deal, and a fit with Amadeus’ portfolio,” Bernstein analysts said in a note to investors, adding that the acquisition will likely reduce the probability of share buybacks for the second half of the year.
Amadeus shares were down 0.65% at 48.9 euros in morning trading on Wednesday.
The closing of the deal is expected in mid-2027 and it includes a potential earn-out of up to 150 million euros on top of the price.
Amadeus expected the acquisition to result in high single-digit revenue growth with expanding operating margins, and provide annual cost synergies of 50 million euros in the medium term.
IPS employs around 3,300 people worldwide and serves more than 600 public and private sector customers. Aside from passenger processing, IPS works with other regulated environments such as access control and government-grade biometric identification and data solutions.
($1 = 0.8548 euros)
(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga in Gdansk, editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)
