CAE Buys Sabre's AirCentre

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https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cae-to-acquire-sabres-aircentre-airline-operations-portfolio-to-significantly-expand-its-position-in-flight-and-crew-management-and-optimization-solutions-301410899.html

CAE to acquire Sabre's AirCentre airline operations portfolio to significantly expand its position in flight and crew management and optimization solutions

- Establishes CAE as a technology leader in digital flight and crew operations

- Transaction aligns with Sabre's strategic vision to create a new marketplace for personalized travel

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Sabre Corporation 

Oct 28, 2021, 08:10 ET

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MONTREAL, QC and SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Oct. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CAE (NYSE: CAE; TSX: CAE) and Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) announced today an agreement for CAE to acquire Sabre's AirCentre airline operations portfolio (AirCentre) – a highly valuable suite of flight and crew management and optimization solutions. The agreement, which is valued at US$ 392.5 million excluding post-closing adjustments, includes the Sabre AirCentre product portfolio, related technology and intellectual property as well as the transfer of AirCentre's highly talented workforce. AirCentre generated approximately US$150 million revenue in the 2019 calendar year (pre-pandemic), and approximately US$55 million EBITDA¹ for the same period. The closing of the transaction is expected in the first quarter of calendar 2022 and is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.

The acquisition will further expand CAE's reach across its broad customer base beyond pilot training and establish the company as a technology leader in the growing marketplace for industry-leading, digitally-enabled flight and crew operations solutions. CAE expects that the transaction will be mid-single-digit percentage EPS² accretive, and even higher free cash flow³ accretive, for CAE within the first year post-closing.

"Sabre's AirCentre business is highly valued by many of the world's leading airlines, nearly all of whom are customers of CAE today. This acquisition will significantly expand CAE's capabilities across a large airline customer base and allows us to deliver on our objective to help our civil aviation customers operate their businesses with the highest levels of efficiency and precision," said Marc Parent, CAE's President and CEO. "We are committed to investing and innovating in digital flight and crew operations, an expansion area for our business. The acquisition will also enhance CAE's capability set with the addition of 500 talented employees, the majority of which are personnel with software development and digital expertise.  We look forward to welcoming AirCentre employees from around the globe and are excited to work with our new colleagues to accelerate the innovation of AirCentre's products as well as CAE's ongoing technological and digital transformation. This transaction will mark the ninth accretive acquisition for CAE since the COVID-19 pandemic began, further effecting the company's intent to emerge from the pandemic larger, more resilient, and more profitable."

For Sabre, the divestiture demonstrates the company's commitment to its previously-announced strategic initiatives and is another step toward fulfilling its vision to create a new marketplace for personalized travel. Through this transaction and other strategic changes executed over the past year, Sabre will be better positioned for incremental revenue opportunities going forward.

"This divestiture is an important strategic move that will allow us to focus on our forward-looking plans and on accelerating our growth as we continue to transform our business and build on our strong momentum over the past three years," said Sean Menke, Sabre President and CEO. "By selling AirCentre to a company committed to growth in the area of airline operations, we can create more value for Sabre, its shareholders and AirCentre customers while we remain laser-focused on the areas of our business that will help drive revenue opportunities for Sabre and our customers – now and in the future."

Uniting airlines and crew in a single, interconnected and growing digital ecosystem

Over the past three years, CAE has been steadily unifying the digital flight operations ecosystem with the goal of delivering a holistic suite of solutions designed to improve operations and enhance the flight and crew experience.

The acquisitions of Merlot and RB Group in December 2020 and April 2021 marked milestones in CAE's journey to pioneer the development of a digital flight operations ecosystem. And in July 2021 CAE announced Project Resilience, a multi-year innovation program to develop the technologies of tomorrow, including digitally immersive solutions leveraging data and artificial intelligence in civil aviation. For more information about CAE's current digital crew management solutions, visit these pages.

CAE Presentation slides: CAE is making available on its website at www.cae.com/investors presentation slides regarding CAE for its analysts and investors. They are accessible via this link.

About Sabre's AirCentre
Sabre's AirCentre Operations business includes approximately 500 employees located in 13 countries, including 5 hubs. It delivers software solutions to more than 150 airline customers, with a portfolio that includes:

• Crew Management: Enables enhanced long-term planning, innovative tracking and management, and disruption management decision support to help carriers manage crew schedules and keep crew members informed with real-time data
• Flight Management: Allows airlines to manage the core functions of flight operations to deliver efficient flight plans and support increased productivity
• Movement Manager: Helps airlines to gain a competitive advantage by optimizing the use of aircraft and operational plans to help meet commercial objectives such as protecting schedules, reducing disruptions and minimizing passenger impact
• Airport Management: Manages airport operations such as planning, gate assignments and staffing to support increased operational efficiency, help optimize costs and improve the customer experience
• In-flight: Spans all aspects of service planning, meal ordering, forecasting, operations, materials management, financial controls and reporting

About Sabre Corporation
Sabre Corporation is a leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry, serving a wide range of travel companies including airlines, hoteliers, travel agencies and other suppliers. The company provides retailing, distribution and fulfilment solutions that help its customers operate more efficiently, drive revenue and offer personalized traveler experiences. Through its leading travel marketplace, Sabre connects travel suppliers with buyers from around the globe. Sabre's technology platform manages more than $260B worth of global travel spend annually. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world. For more information visit www.sabre.com.

About CAE
CAE is a high technology company, at the leading edge of digital immersion, providing solutions to make the world a safer place. Backed by a record of more than 70 years of industry firsts, we continue to reimagine the customer experience and revolutionize training and operational support solutions in civil aviation, defence and security, and healthcare. We are the partner of choice to customers worldwide who operate in complex, high-stakes and largely regulated environments, where successful outcomes are critical. As testament to our customers' ongoing needs for our solutions, over 60 percent of CAE's revenue is recurring in nature. We have the broadest global presence in our industry, with more than 11,000 employees, 180 sites, and training locations in over 35 countries. www.cae.com