Amadeus completes €320 million acquisition of Vision-Box

Travel tech giant adds biometric border control to portfolio

Amadeus has completed the €320-million acquisition of Vision-Box, announced in January, having received “all necessary regulatory approvals”.

Lisbon-based Vision-Box is a specialist in aviation biometrics and automated border control which Amadeus said would allow it to deliver “a fully integrated traveller journey from the moment of booking to arrival at the airport, including border control and boarding”.

Amadeus provides airline booking and boarding technology as well as its global distribution system (GDS) and new distribution capability (NDC) technology for travel intermediaries. Vision-Box adds automated border control for the first time.

Vision-Box founder and chief executive Miguel Leitmann and the company’s 470 employees will join Amadeus, with Leitmann reporting to Amadeus travel president Decius Valmorbida.

The company was established in 2001 and has been majority owned by private equity fund Keensight Capital since 2015.

It recorded revenue of €70 million and an operating profit of €20 million in 2023.

Announcing the deal in January, Amadeus emphasised the benefits of bringing “biometrics interoperability” between airports, airlines and border control authorities, noting the market for automated border control is expected to grow from $48 billion in value last year to $86 billion in 2028.

Valmorbida described the Vison-Box portfolio as “deeply complementary to our existing offering for airports and airlines”.