- Positions CAE as a digital technology leader, complementing
CAE flight simulator and training solutions
- Offers flight, crew, aircraft movement, airport and
in-flight management and optimization tools that deliver efficiency
for the flight ecosystem
- Airline Operations portfolio, RB Group and Merlot form CAE's
new Civil Flight Services portfolio
MONTREAL, March 1, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - CAE (NYSE: CAE)
(TSX: CAE) announced today that it has concluded the previously
announced acquisition of Sabre's Airline Operations portfolio
(formerly known as AirCentre solutions), a highly valuable suite of
flight and crew management and optimization solutions, for an
enterprise value of US$ 392.5 million. The acquisition
includes the Sabre Airline Operations product portfolio, related
technology and intellectual property as well as the transfer
of highly talented workforce.
"We are very pleased to welcome Sabre's Airline Operations
customers and employees to CAE," said Marc
Parent, CAE's President and CEO. "This acquisition, in
addition to our ongoing technological transformation and our
previous acquisitions of Merlot and RB Group, allows us to expand
our reach into digitally-enabled flight and crew management and
optimization services and create additional value for our
customers".
Parent added: "CAE's Flight Services solutions allow us to help
airlines and business jet operators globally to better manage their
operations, decrease costly scheduling disruptions, improve
staffing and operational decision-making, and decrease fuel
consumption and carbon emissions. This ecosystem also enables
pilots and crew members to better manage their day-to-day
activities, while supporting them throughout their training and
career journeys. Our customers are increasingly adopting digital
solutions to improve efficiency and operations, and we are thrilled
about this opportunity to expand our suite of innovative civil
flight services solutions."
CAE has been carrying out a growth strategy with the intent to
emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic a larger, more resilient, and
more profitable company than ever before. The acquisition, the
ninth accretive acquisition for CAE since the COVID-19 pandemic
began, will further expand CAE's reach across its broad customer
base beyond simulators and pilot training and establish the company
as a technology leader in the growing marketplace for
industry-leading, digitally enabled flight and crew operations
solutions. CAE expects that the transaction will be
mid-single-digit percentage EPS1 accretive, and even
higher free cash flow2 accretive, for CAE within the
first year post-closing.
Over the past two years, CAE has been unifying its digital
flight operations business with the goal of delivering a holistic
suite of solutions designed to improve operations and unite
airline, business jet operators and crew in a single,
interconnected and growing digital ecosystem. With the addition of
this suite of digital capabilities to the existing business, CAE
will now engage with pilots at every point of their career life
cycles, from training and flight preparation, planning and
scheduling right through to in-flight route optimization,
performance and analytics.
The acquisitions of Merlot and RB Group in December 2020 and April
2021 marked milestones in CAE's journey to pioneer the
development of a digital flight operations ecosystem. And in
July 2021, CAE announced Project
Resilience, a multi-year innovation program to develop the
technologies of tomorrow, including digitally immersive solutions
leveraging data and artificial intelligence in civil aviation. For
more information about CAE's portfolio of flight operations
solutions visit these pages.
About Sabre Airline Operations
The Airline Operations business includes almost 500 employees
located in 12 countries, including 6 hubs (Dallas, Bangalore, Vienna, Krakow, Montevideo, and Shanghai). It delivers software solutions to
more than 150 airline customers, with a portfolio that
includes:
- Crew Management: Enables enhanced long-term planning,
innovative tracking and management, and disruption management
decision support to help carriers manage crew schedules and keep
crew members informed with real-time data
- Flight Management: Allows airlines to manage the core functions
of flight operations to deliver efficient flight plans and support
increased productivity
- Movement Manager: Helps airlines to gain a competitive
advantage by optimizing the use of aircraft and operational plans
to help meet commercial objectives such as protecting schedules,
reducing disruptions and minimizing passenger impact
- Airport Management: Manages airport operations such as
planning, gate assignments and staffing to support increased
operational efficiency, help optimize costs and improve the
customer experience
- In-flight: Spans all aspects of service planning, meal
ordering, forecasting, operations, materials management, financial
controls and reporting
About CAE
CAE is a high technology company, at the leading edge of digital
immersion, providing solutions to make the world a safer place.
Backed by a record of more than 70 years of industry firsts, we
continue to reimagine the customer experience and revolutionize
training and operational support solutions in civil aviation,
defence and security, and healthcare. We are the partner of choice
to customers worldwide who operate in complex, high-stakes and
largely regulated environments, where successful outcomes are
critical. As testament to our customers' ongoing needs for our
solutions, over 60 percent of CAE's revenue is recurring in nature.
We have the broadest global presence in our industry, with more
than 11,000 employees, 180 sites, and training locations in over 35
countries. www.cae.com
Follow us on Twitter: CAE_Inc
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cae.inc
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/cae
Hashtags: #CAE; #CAEpilot; #CAEcrewperformance
Caution concerning forward-looking statements with respect to
CAE
This press release includes forward-looking statements about
the anticipated benefits of the acquisition by CAE of Sabre's
Airline Operations portfolio (the Acquisition), CAE's access to
capital resources, and CAE's activities, events and developments
that CAE expects to or anticipates may occur in the future
including, for example, statements about CAE's vision, strategies,
market trends and outlook, future revenues, capital spending,
expansions and new initiatives, financial obligations and expected
sales. Forward-looking statements normally contain words like
"believe", "expect", "anticipate", "plan", "intend", "continue",
"estimate", "may", "will", "should", "strategy", "future" and
similar expressions. By their nature, forward looking statements
require CAE to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks
and uncertainties associated with CAE's business which may cause
actual results in future periods to differ materially from results
indicated in forward-looking statements. While these statements are
based on management's expectations and assumptions regarding
historical trends, current conditions and expected future
developments, as well as other factors that CAE believes are
reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements as there is a risk that they may not be
accurate.
Important risks that could cause such differences include,
but are not limited to, the failure to gain access to expected
capital resources within anticipated timeframes or at all, risks
relating to the Acquisition, such as all or part of the intended
benefits therefrom not being realized or unanticipated
integration-related issues, costs or delays, risks relating to the
COVID-19 pandemic such as health and safety, reduction and
suspension of operations, global economic conditions, diversions of
management attention, heightened IT risks, liquidity risks and
credit risks, risks relating to the industry such as competition,
business development and awarding of new contracts, level and
timing of defence spending, government-funded defence and security
programs, constraints within the civil aviation industry,
regulatory matters, natural or other disasters, environmental laws
and regulations, climate change, risks relating to CAE such as
evolving standards and technology innovation, CAE's ability to
penetrate new markets, R&D activities, fixed-price and long
term supply contracts, strategic partnerships and long-term
contracts, procurement and original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
leverage, product integration and program management, protection of
CAE's intellectual property and brand, third-party intellectual
property, loss of key personnel, labour relations, liability risks
that may not be covered by indemnity or insurance, warranty or
other product-related claims, integration of acquired businesses
through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances
or divestitures, reputational risk, U.S. foreign ownership, control
or influence mitigation measures, length of sales cycle,
seasonality, continued returns to shareholders, information
technology and cybersecurity, CAE's reliance on technology and
third party providers, data privacy, and risks relating to the
market such as foreign exchange, availability of capital, credit
risk, pension plan funding, doing business in foreign countries,
geopolitical uncertainty, anti-corruption laws and taxation
matters. Additionally, differences could arise because of events
announced or completed after the date of this press release. More
information about the risks and uncertainties affecting CAE's
business can be found in the Management's Discussion & Analysis
for the year ended March 31, 2021 and
the Management's Discussion & Analysis for the quarter ended
December 31, 2021. Any one or more of
the factors described above and elsewhere in this press release,
and in the documents referenced herein, may be exacerbated by the
continuing COVID-19 pandemic and may have a more negative impact on
CAE's business, results of operations and financial condition.
Accordingly, readers are cautioned that any of the disclosed risks
could have a material adverse effect on CAE's forward-looking
statements. Readers are also cautioned that the risks described
above and elsewhere in this press release, and in the documents
referenced herein, are not necessarily the only ones CAE faces;
additional risks and uncertainties that are presently unknown to
CAE or that CAE may currently deem immaterial may adversely affect
CAE's business.
Pending the Acquisition closing, Sabre's Airline Operations
portfolio is a fully integrated business unit of Sabre, and
separate financial statements historically have not been prepared
for the Sabre Airline Operations portfolio. Consequently, the
financial information of the Sabre Airline Operations portfolio
included in this document has been derived from the consolidated
financial statements and historical accounting records of Sabre and
reflects certain significant assumptions, judgments and allocations
made by Sabre. The financial position, net income and cash flows of
the Sabre Airline Operations portfolio may not be representative of
the financial performance if the Sabre's Airline Operations
portfolio had been a stand-alone entity or operated independently
of Sabre. As a result, the historical financial information or
expected future financial results of the Sabre Airline Operations
portfolio may not be a reliable indicator of future
results.
Except as required by law, CAE disclaims any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
The forward-looking information and statements contained in this
press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary
statement.
Material Assumptions
The forward-looking
statements set out in this press release are based on certain
assumptions including, without limitation: access to expected
capital resources within anticipated timeframes, the integration
and the realization of the anticipated benefits and synergies of
the Acquisition in the timeframe anticipated, the anticipated
negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on CAE's businesses,
operating results, cash flows and/or financial condition, including
the intended effect of mitigation measures implemented as a result
of the COVID-19 pandemic, CAE's available liquidity from cash and
cash equivalents, undrawn amounts on CAE's revolving credit
facilities, the balance available under CAE's receivable purchase
program, CAE's cash flows from operations and continued access to
debt funding will be sufficient to meet financial requirements in
the foreseeable future; and no material financial, operational or
competitive consequences of changes in regulations affecting CAE's
business. For additional information, including with respect to
other assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in
this press release, refer to the applicable reportable segment in
the Management's Discussion & Analysis for the year ended
March 31, 2021 and the Management's
Discussion & Analysis for the quarter ended December 31, 2021. Given the impact of the
changing circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the
related response from CAE, governments, regulatory authorities,
businesses and customers, there is inherently more uncertainty
associated with CAE's assumptions. Accordingly, the assumptions
outlined in this press release, and in the documents referenced
herein, and, consequently, the forward-looking statements based on
such assumptions, may turn out to be inaccurate.
Non-GAAP and other financial measures
This
press release includes non-GAAP and other financial measures.
Non-GAAP measures are useful supplemental information but do not
have a standardized meaning according to GAAP and therefore may not
be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. These
measures should not be confused with, or used as an alternative
for, performance measures calculated according to GAAP. They should
also not be used to compare with similar measures from other
companies. Management believes that providing certain non-GAAP
measures provides users with a better understanding of our results
and trends and provides additional information on our financial and
operating performance.
(1)
|
EPS
CAE calculates earnings per share by taking the diluted earnings
per share from continuing operations attributable to equity holders
of the CAE and dividing that by the average number of diluted
shares.
|
(2)
|
Free cash flow
CAE calculates free cash flow by taking the net cash generated
by its continuing operating activities, subtracting maintenance
capital expenditures, investment in other assets not related to
growth and dividends paid and adding proceeds from the disposal of
property, plant and equipment, dividends received from equity
accounted investees and proceeds, net of payments, from equity
accounted investees.
|
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SOURCE CAE INC.