NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) - Sabre is

exploring a sale of its hospitality software unit SynXis, in a

deal that could be worth more than $1 billion and help the

travel technology provider reduce its debt, according to people

familiar with the matter.

The Southlake, Texas-based firm is working with investment

bank Evercore ( EVR ) to gauge interest from potential

acquirers, which include private equity firms and rival software

makers, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the

discussions are confidential.

The SynXis business currently generates about $300 million

in annual revenue, the sources said. The deliberations are

ongoing and a deal is not guaranteed, the sources added.

Sabre's shares have risen about 36% over the past year,

giving the company a market value of about $1.3 billion. Sabre

also had debt net of cash of about $4.5 billion as of the end of

December.

Sabre did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for

comment. Evercore ( EVR ) declined to comment.

Sabre traces its roots to the 1960s when C.R. Smith, the

then president of American Airlines, and R. Blair Smith, a sales

executive at IBM, came up with the idea of a data processing

system for the airline industry that could help create and

manage seat reservations, among other things.

The company currently counts top airlines, travel agencies,

hotels, tour operators, car rental brands, and rail carriers

among its customers, according to its website.

Sabre's SynXis unit is a provider of software to more than

40% of all hotels globally, including Four Seasons, Mandarin

Oriental and Hyatt.