Alternative asset management firm TPG announced plans to acquire Sabre Corporation’s Hospitality Solutions business for $1.1 billion. The all-cash deal is projected to net Sabre $960 million, after accounting for taxes and fees, which will be used primarily to pay down debt.
“Hospitality Solutions provides software and solutions to more than 40 percent of the world’s leading hotel brands,” according to the deal’s press release. “The SaaS based platform serves as an integrated system of record for reservation and guest information, enabling hoteliers to operate with greater accuracy and efficiency.”
According to the U.S. Travel Association, tourism represents 2.5% of the U.S.’s gross domestic product, producing $2.9 trillion in economic output and supporting 15 million jobs. This generates $585 billion in tax revenue each year – 7% of all government income.
Contributions to Annual Growth in Real Tourism
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
While tourism dropped precipitously in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic closed borders and sent many nations into lockdown, it roared back in 2021 as Americans sought to spend their increased savings on travel as they made up for lost time. That explosive growth moderated by 2023, as the chart depicts above.
International tourism accounted for just 10% of industry spending U.S. in 2024, but analysts at the World Travel & Tourism Council project a drop-off in travellers from abroad that will cost $12.5BN in international visitor spending in 2025. “The steep decline in visitors to the U.S. has been attributed to a combination of factors, including Trump’s tariffs, confrontational rhetoric, travel advisories issued by other countries, and — as noted in the Oval Office exchange — high-profile detentions of foreign visitors,” according to Canada’s National Post. President Trump has downplayed the decline in foreign visitors to focus instead on China and Japan’s currency manipulation.
Global Tourism Market
Source: NewsinAmerica
According to DealPulse’s M&A database, which harnesses both AI and attorneys to digest the granular deal points of publicly announced transactions, TPG is advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, while Sabre is advised by Haynes and Boone, LLP.
