Expedia to acquire online rival Orbitz
The once crowded online travel agency space is increasingly resembling a two-horse race for supremacy between Expedia and Priceline.
Expedia Inc announced an agreement to buy Orbitz, the third largest OTA, in a deal worth $1.3 billion.
All Orbitz’ brands, including ebookers, HotelClub, and CheapTickets are included in the deal.
The purchase is the latest in a long line of acquisitions for Expedia which includes Travelocity, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Trivago and Australia’s Wotif.com.
If the deal goes through, and it is sure to come under some scrutiny by antitrust regulators, it would put Expedia ahead of rival Priceline in number of travel bookings.
Priceline however still leads the way in amount of revenue and stock market value.
Expedia will pay $12 per share, which is a 25% premium on Orbitz’ closing price Wednesday of $9.62.
"We are attracted to the Orbitz Worldwide business because of its strong brands and impressive team. This acquisition will allow us to deliver best-in-class experiences to an even wider set of travelers all over the world," said Dara Khosrowshahi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Expedia, Inc.
"From the flagship Orbitz.com brand, to other well-known consumer brands such as CheapTickets, ebookers and HotelClub and the business-to-business brands Orbitz Partner Network and Orbitz for Business, the Orbitz Worldwide team has built a devoted customer base and we look forward to welcoming them to the Expedia, Inc. family."
Khosrowshahi expects to see savings of $75 million a year in ‘synergies.’
An Orbitz spokesperson said: "there have been no discussions about staffing or personnel matters."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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