Spanish travel technology company Amadeus IT SA is considering a bid to acquire IDEMIA Public Security, the biometrics and identity services division owned by private equity firm Advent International, according to people familiar with the matter.
The unit, which serves more than 600 government, state, and federal agencies and spans physical and digital identity verification, could be valued at €2 billion to €3 billion (approximately $2.2 billion to $3.3 billion). Amadeus is among a field of companies and private equity firms evaluating a potential purchase, sources told Bloomberg. French defense and aerospace company Thales SA has also expressed interest in the asset.
A combination would bring together Amadeus’s extensive footprint in airline reservations, airport operations, and hospitality technology with IDEMIA Public Security’s biometric infrastructure. IDEMIA’s airport biometric deployments span more than 250 airports globally, supporting over one billion travelers annually. The deal would create a vertically integrated airport technology player with capabilities stretching from passenger reservations through biometric identity verification at checkpoints and boarding gates.
Amadeus has been expanding its biometrics presence at airports independently. The company partnered with a Norwegian airport operator on biometric passenger processing upgrades and has been piloting an EU digital identity wallet for air travel with Lufthansa. IDEMIA, meanwhile, has continued its own airport expansion, including a unified biometric layer partnership with Elenium targeting multiple airport touchpoints.
The Amadeus interest follows Advent’s strategy of separating IDEMIA’s business lines. The private equity firm divided IDEMIA into distinct entities and has been preparing Public Security for divestiture since at least mid-2025, when it retained advisers including Rothschild and Co. for a prospective sale process.
IDEMIA Public Security’s capabilities include biometric-based border control, facial recognition at airports, government identity document issuance, law enforcement biometric systems, and civil identity platforms including mobile driver’s license programs deployed across multiple U.S. states. For Amadeus, acquiring these capabilities would represent a substantial pivot into identity infrastructure, an area that travel and aviation operators increasingly view as central to frictionless passenger processing.
No deal has been formally agreed, and the process remains in exploratory stages.
Sources: Bloomberg Law
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
