Amadeus acquires Vision-Box in €320m deal

Amadeus has acquired travel technology firm Vision-Box, a specialist in aviation biometrics and automated border control, in a €320 million deal.

Lisbon-based Vision-Box was established in 2001 and has been majority owned by private equity fund Keensight Capital since 2015.

The company’s acquisition by Amadeus is subject to regulatory approval but is expected to close within the first half of this year. It will see 470 Vision-Box employees transfer to Amadeus, which is based in Madrid.

Amadeus provides aviation booking and boarding technology as well as its global distribution system (GDS) and new distribution capability technology for travel intermediaries, but Vision-Box will add automated border control for the first time.

Vision-Box recorded revenue of €70 million and an operating profit of €20 million in 2023.

Announcing the deal, Amadeus emphasised the benefits of bringing “biometrics interoperability” between airports, airlines and border control authorities.

It noted demand for automated border control is expected to increase significantly, with the market estimated to grow from a value of $48 billion in 2023 to $86 billion by 2028.

Amadeus travel president Decius Valmorbida described the Vison-Box portfolio as “deeply complementary to our existing offering for airports and airlines” and said: “This acceleration of our ecosystem approach will bring immediate and tangible benefits.”

He added: “Biometrics is a strategic and fast-growing industry and Vision-Box’s capabilities will allow us to accelerate our growth in this area.”

Vision-Box founder and chief executive Miguel Leitmann said: “Together we can deliver the next big step in the travel experience [and] unite all separate players and systems in a single, digitally integrated and orchestrated ecosystem.”

He suggested this would “drive user experience, on-time-performance and infrastructure usage to new levels of efficiency”.