[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] Australian Stock Exchange-listed travel site travel.com.au has welcomed a new investor, with
Spain-based global distribution system (GDS) and technology provider Amadeus taking a 19.99
percent slice of the retailer’s pie.
The $9.93 million cash investment leaves Amadeus with 10.68 million travel.com.au shares,
purchased at 93 cents each. The deal finalizes and expands upon the initial investment
announcement last November, by offering Amadeus the option to acquire another 4.5 million
shares at 60 cents each any time in the next two years.
As part of this deal, travel.com.au has signed a five year exclusive agreement with Amadeus
and its local arm Amadeus Australia for the provision of Computer Reservation Services (CRS)
using Amadeus’ Vista browser interface. It will be the first time Vista has been implemented
outside of Europe and the U.S.
Amadeus provides reservation information from 500 airlines as well as hotels, car rental
companies and similar sources to travel agencies and airline offices. The company also
develops e-commerce technology to improve the booking process.
While travel.com.au has become an Amadeus user through the deal, the company stands the
most through a greater exposure to the technologies Amadeus its developing around the world
with its partners, said travel.com.au chief executive officer David Tonkin.
“The agreement will see collaboration between Amadeus Australia and travel.com.au,
particularly in its Brisbane office and in Asia and Europe,” said Tonkin. “It is not about just
gaining the ‘goodies’ from Amadeus, but working with them to develop these ‘goodies’. It will
present us with global opportunities.”
Tonkin expected these ‘goodies’ to appear in the form of “better booking systems” and in jointly
investigating opportunities with Amadeus to add value to travel.com.au’s joint ventures in Japan
and South Africa, as well as potential in Asia Pacific.
Amadeus’ investment is reflective of the company’s partnerships around the world. It is working
with Broadvision to develop a personalized booking system that Tonkin expected to be trialled
first in the U.S., and has invested in agencies around the world. Tonkin said his company will be
jointly developing solutions with a number of these, including the U.S.-based OneTravel.
Tonkin said that travel.com.au would also be working with Amadeus Australia to use and
possibly develop some of its travel management systems, including its recently launched
Online eTravel which provides customized travel reservation systems and content for travel and
portal Web sites.
Tonkin did not have a confirmed plan for the money travel.com.au has received through the
Amadeus investment, saying that as the company still has money from its May 1999 float, the
new injection of capital will acts a buffer and help fund opportunities it may spy in future.
Amadeus will now be seeking to nominate two directors to travel.com.au’s board, following the
resignation from the board of non-executive director Malcolm Spry, who is the group chief
executive for the Pacific region at research company ACNielsen.
