WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Justice announced today that it will not challenge the planned sale of Sabre Inc.'s airline infrastructure information technology assets to Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS) after the parties informed the Department that they were abandoning an agreement that would have transferred EDS' internal airline reservation system, known as SHARES, to Sabre. The Department said that the sale of EDS' SHARES to Sabre would have been anticompetitive and would have removed an established vendor from the reservation system market. Under the restructured deal, EDS will retain the absolute right to market and develop SHARES, and any supporting software.

Internal airline reservation systems are critical software that enable airlines to sell their tickets efficiently through multiple distribution channels. Airline reservation systems also handle ticketing functions, airline inventory management, and track passenger check-in, departures and arrivals.

EDS and Sabre are two of a small number of companies that market full-featured airline reservation systems to mid-size U.S. airlines.

"The abandonment of EDS' planned sale of SHARES to Sabre will allow airlines who want to purchase SHARES to continue to have adequate choices in selecting their airline reservation system supplier," said Charles A. James, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department's Antitrust Division. "The Department will continue to protect competition in the market for airline reservation systems and other critical airline software."

Sabre, headquartered in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, is the leading provider in the United States of airline software applications, including airline reservation systems. Sabre reported 2000 revenues of $2.6 billion.

EDS, which is based in Plano, Texas, is a large information technology outsourcing provider to the travel industry. EDS reported $19.2 billion in revenues in 2000.