Amadeus is acquiring airport, airline and border control biometrics solutions provider Vision-Box for 320 million euros.
Acquiring Vision-Box will provide Amadeus with capabilities to accelerate growth in the biometrics sector, according to Amadeus president of travel Decius Valmorbida.
Vision-Box's portfolio is "deeply complementary" to Amadeus' own biometrics offerings, Valmorbida said, and the companies already have worked together, such as in a biometrics-based boarding program with Lufthansa.
Vision-Box was founded in 2001 and reports use of its digital identity solutions in more than 100 countries.
"Together we can deliver the next big step in the travel experience: to unite all separate players and systems in a single, digitally integrated and orchestrated ecosystem," Vision-Box founder and CEO Miguel Leitmann said in a statement. "This compelling value proposition will drive user experience, on-time performance, infrastructure usage and other key indicators to new levels of efficiency."
About 470 Vision-Box employees will join Amadeus as part of the acquisition, which is expected to close in the first half of this year pending regulatory approvals.
Source: Business Travel News