Amadeus accelerates move into Hotel IT sector with USD 500m acquisition of Newmarket International
Acquisition of leading IT provider to the hotel sector adds deep industry knowledge, key customer relationships and complementary product set
Transaction is in line with Amadeus’ strategy of diversification into new business areas. Deal significantly strengthens presence in the Hotel IT market, and emphasizes commitment to the sector. Adds strong management team with deep subject matter expertise and understanding of the hotel industry. Newmarket will bring a strategic customer base with top tier hotel chains and substantial hotel infrastructure and expertise. Newmarket is a growing, profitable and cash-generative business that will be earnings accretive to Amadeus from day one. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.
Amadeus, the leading technology provider for the global travel industry, today announced that it is to acquire Newmarket International, a leading provider of cloud-based group and event IT solutions to the hotel industry, for USD 500 million.
The addition of Newmarket, based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, US will bring a strong management team and talented workforce to Amadeus that will significantly strengthen the Group’s expertise and experience in the hotel IT industry, a key target sector for future growth. Newmarket also adds established relationships with key customers in the hotel segment.
“This important and strategic acquisition will strengthen Amadeus’ position in the hotel IT sector, bringing important expertise and key customer relationships to the company that will accelerate our move into this key market,” said Luis Maroto, President and CEO of Amadeus. “With many hotel chains at a crossroads in their IT strategy, and the provider landscape fragmented, Amadeus is committed to playing a key role in partnering with the hotel industry to address its challenges and this transaction will greatly accelerate that objective.”
“The acquisition by Amadeus is great news for both our customers and employees,” said Jeff Hiscox, President and CEO of Newmarket. “We have built a profitable and successful business that is the undisputed leader in our market segment and by joining Amadeus we have the ideal platform to take that success to the next level and extend our leadership in hotel IT solutions”.
“Amadeus continues to develop and provide IT systems for the Hotel industry based-on our successful cloud-based platform in use in the Airline IT segment of the market. We intend to leverage the Newmarket business and proven execution abilities to expand the Amadeus Hotel offering to hotels worldwide”, said Jeff Edwards, Head of Global Hotels Group at Amadeus. “The combination of Newmarket’s expertise and exceptional customer service, with Amadeus’ scale and global reach will enable us to deliver a comprehensive set of integrated high value products and services to the hotel industry.”
Newmarket, which serves around 22,000 unique properties in 154 countries, operates in the group and event management segment of the hotel industry, which is estimated to account for 30-40% of a full-service hotel’s revenues. It will be operated as a stand-alone business within Amadeus’ Global Hotel Group which will integrate many aspects of Amadeus’ robust products and services over time. The combination of Amadeus and Newmarket is expected to result in revenue synergy opportunities in both Hotel IT and Distribution.
Newmarket’s products and services offerings are complementary to Amadeus’ IT product set which is focused on delivering cloud-based enterprise solutions in the area of: Central Reservations Systems, Property Management Systems, Revenue Management Systems and e-Commerce platform solutions.
As a result of the transaction approximately 430 employees globally, including Newmarket’s entire management team, will become part of the Amadeus Global Hotel Group, maintaining Newmarket’s headquarters location in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Newmarket has a strong track record of growth and profitability with estimated 2013 revenues of $110m and EBITDA margin of 31%. The transaction is expected to be earnings accretive to Amadeus on day one.
Amadeus and Newmarket expect to complete closing activities in the first quarter of 2014 and therefore do not expect the transaction to have any impact on Amadeus’ financial performance in 2013.
JP Morgan acted as financial advisors to Amadeus in this transaction.

Amadeus is a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (e.g. airlines, hotels, rail and ferry operators, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and travel management companies).
The Amadeus group employs around 10,000 people worldwide, across central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (operations), as well as 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations globally.
The group operates a transaction-based business model. For the year ended December 31, 2012 the company reported revenues of €2,910.3million and EBITDA of €1,107.7 million.
Amadeus is listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange under the symbol “AMS.MC” and is a component of the IBEX 35 index.
To find out more about Amadeus please visit www.amadeus.com
About Newmarket International, Inc.
Since 1985, Newmarket International, Inc. (“Newmarket”) continues to deliver proven business solutions for empowering hospitality organizations to lower costs and increase revenue, while improving customer satisfaction and guest loyalty. With more than 40,000 installations serving over 22,000 properties / venues and 150,000 users in over 154 countries worldwide, Newmarket technologies are a cornerstone in the global hospitality industry. Offering solutions for sales and marketing automation, customer relationship management, catering and events, guest loyalty, meeting intelligence, workflow management, and property maintenance, Newmarket enables hospitality professionals to work smarter and better manage all aspects of their transient, leisure, groups and meetings business.