CMA raises Sabre-Farelogix competition fears

The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) has raised concerns over the proposed acquisition of Farelogix by Sabre, saying that blocking the merger “may be the only way” of addressing competition issues. In June 2019, the CMA launched an investigation into the acquisition, which was announced in 2018, to determine whether the merger would limit competition in the airline distribution market and therefore ‘reduce innovation’ in the industry. The watchdog later slammed Sabre with a £20,000 fine in the second phase of its inquiry for failing to provide certain documentation before a deadline. At the time, the CMA claimed the company had submitted redacted versions of the documents, but later admitted they did not contain sensitive information.