After Sabre’s $1.1 Billion Hotel Tech Sale: CEO Explains What’s Next

The sale further shrinks Sabre compared to its larger competitor, Amadeus. But it will benefit from less debt and more focus on its distribution business.

Sabre will be slimmed down and more focused after the sale of its hotel tech unit to TPG for $1.1 billion. About 1,000 employees are moving along with it, Sabre CEO Kurt Ekert told Skift.

That business “will largely move intact,” he said. That includes Scott Wilson, president of Sabre Hospitality, and the other executives, and brings Sabre’s workforce to about 5,500.

Ekert had put a lot of effort into building the hotel tech unit since he started as CEO in 2023. But Sabre had over $5 billion in debt, and reducing that level has been one of Ekert’s top goals. Most of the sale proceeds – about $960 million after taxes and fees – will go toward debt reduction.

“On one hand, this business has tremend