The cross-border Freshfields team was led by partners Adrian Maguire in London and Alan Mason in Paris

Warburg Pincus intends to combine Accelya with Mercator to create a leading global solutions provider to the travel industry

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (‘Freshfields’) has advised Warburg Pincus on its acquisition of Accelya, a leading provider of financial and commercial solutions to the airline industry, from French private equity firm, Chequers Capital. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.

Warburg Pincus, the global private equity firm focused on growth investing, intends to combine Accelya with its existing portfolio company Mercator, in order to create a leading, global technology-enabled solutions provider to airlines, travel agents and freight forwarders.

Together, Accelya and Mercator will offer a broadened product portfolio with complementary offerings including revenue accounting, revenue management, revenue assurance, cargo management, payment solutions, data analytics, cost management and commercial solutions.

The combined company will have a global footprint, with annual revenues in excess of $200m and more than 400 clients worldwide, including 250 airlines. It will also have the scale to make further investments in products and technology in order to remain at the forefront of innovation and service quality.

The cross-border Freshfields team was led by partners Adrian Maguire in London and Alan Mason in Paris, with associates Dan Clarke in London and Adrien Descoutres. Additional advice was provided by partners Armando Albarrán in Madrid, Chris Davis, Andrew Craig, and John Davies in London, and Vincent Daniel-Mayeur in Paris.