Exhibit 99.1
Contacts: Cindy Foor (media)
214-234-4129
Marcie Hyder (investors)
214-234-4120
PEGASUS SOLUTIONS COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF UNIREZ,
ENHANCING SERVICES TO SMALL HOTEL CHAINS AND INDEPENDENTS
CONCLUSION OF DEAL SOLIDIFIES PEGASUS' STATUS AS THE TOP GLOBAL PROVIDER OF
HOTEL REPRESENTATION SERVICES
DALLAS (DECEMBER 3, 2003) - Pegasus Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: PEGS), a leading
global provider of hotel reservations-related services and technology, today
announced the completion of its acquisition of Unirez, Inc. Pegasus purchased
Unirez, one of the fastest growing hotel reservations services companies in the
world, for $38 million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments.
The transaction is expected to generate approximately $10 million in future tax
savings that will effectively reduce the purchase price. In addition, the
acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive on a cash earnings basis,
but Pegasus does not expect it to have a material impact on fourth quarter 2003
cash earnings with only one month remaining in the quarter. There are additional
details on the financial impact of the acquisition and the fourth quarter
financial outlook in a separate press release, issued today, and in the Form 8-K
filed today.
The acquisition of Unirez allows Pegasus to grow its U.S. hotel customer base
and enhance its technology offerings to small hotel chains and independents
worldwide. With the acquisition of Unirez, Pegasus now represents nearly 7,000
independent and small and mid-size chain hotel properties around the world,
including nearly 3,000 in the Americas. Overall, Pegasus serves more than 50,000
hotel properties, as well as a majority of the world's travel agencies.
"The addition of Unirez rounds out our multi-tiered representation strategy for
independent and small group hotels by providing a lower-cost distribution
service," said John F. Davis III, chairman, president and CEO of Pegasus.
"Their outstanding roster of hotels also bolsters our overall presence at the
point-of-sale, helping to drive bookings for Pegasus-represented hotels by both
traditional and online travel agencies."
From a technology perspective, the web-based Hotel Factory central reservation
system created by Unirez significantly enhances the user interface and data
management capabilities Pegasus now offers to the properties it represents.
Once integration is complete, hotel members of various Pegasus services will be
able to take advantage of this technology to enter and control all the
information about their hotel, including availability, rates, descriptions, etc.
The automated process immediately uploads hotel data into various distribution
channels and can be modified at any time.
PAGE TWO - PEGASUS SOLUTIONS COMPLETES ACQUISITION
"Unirez hotel members can expect the same level of outstanding customer service
with the flexibility and responsiveness they've come to expect, even while we
execute the integration into Pegasus," said Robert J. Boles, Jr., Pegasus'
Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Added CEO Davis: "We intend to fully embrace the speed to market which Unirez
embodied. It's one of the things that made Unirez great, and we will integrate
that into our culture."
Pegasus intends to fully integrate Unirez into its collection of service
offerings in 2004. Unirez employees will be integrated into the functional
structure of Pegasus.
ABOUT PEGASUS
Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: PEGS) is a leading global provider
of hotel reservations-related services and technology. Founded in 1989,
Pegasus' customers include a majority of the world's travel agencies and more
than 50,000 hotel properties around the globe. Pegasus' services include
central reservation systems, electronic distribution services, commission
processing and payment services, property management systems, and marketing
representation services. The company's representation services, including
Utell, are used by nearly 7,000 member hotels in 140 countries, making Pegasus
the hotel industry's largest third-party marketing and reservations provider.
Pegasus has 18 offices in 11 countries, including regional hubs in London,
Scottsdale and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.pegs.com.
------------
CONFERENCE CALL
Pegasus will host a conference call tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Central Time for
media and industry analysts. To join the call, please dial 1-866-453-5550 in the
U.S., or 678-460-1860 outside the U.S. The participant code is 6716688.
Some statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding future events, such as
the closing of the transactions described in this press release, financial
projections, as well as management's expectations, beliefs, hopes, intentions or
strategies regarding the future. Because such statements deal with future
events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual results
could differ materially from current expectations. Factors that could cause or
contribute to such difference include, but are not limited to, risks identified
in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including those
appearing under the caption Risk Factors in the company's 2002 Annual Report on
Form 10-K.
- end -