Wotif.com takes direct stake in SE Asia
AWD shareholders have agreed to a total sales price of A$34.2 million (US$31.3m) payable in a combination of cash and Wotif shares.
Completion of the transaction is conditional upon satisfactory due diligence and is expected to occur before the end of next month.
Robbie Cooke, Wotif.com’s managing director and CEO, said, “The combination of Wotif.com and Asia Web Direct presents an exciting opportunity to secure a greater share of the South East Asian accommodation markets.
“These markets are likely to see strong growth in coming years as consumers in Asia follow the worldwide trend of booking their accommodation needs online.”
Wotif.com sold approximately 180,000 room nights in Asia in 2007.
AWD, which has its roots in Phuket, having been founded by local expatriate resident Neil Cumming in 1993, was a pioneer in South East Asia for online hotel bookings with instant confirmation.
Today, it provides these and related services through a network of more than 100 travel portals and destination websites, such as market leaders Phuket.com, Bangkok.com, LateStays.com and SmartStays.com.
The AWD network attracts approximately three million visitors a month, and in 2007 it achieved bookings of about 450,000 room nights.
Its room inventory now comes from more than 4,000 hotels in South East Asia.
AWD’s operations are conducted from offices in Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Samui, Krabi and Kuala Lumpur, with input from a team of more than 150 staff.
The business is led by Cumming, as president, and Eii Eawsakul as CEO, both of whom have agreed to remain in their current roles post-acquisition.
Cumming has also agreed to join Wotif’s board of directors.
In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Wotif noted,
“In addition to increasing substantially the scale of Wotif’s Asian operations, the acquisition of AWD is expected to enhance the combined group’s attractiveness as a distribution channel for Asian hoteliers, and to provide Wotif’s existing suppliers with further distribution via the AWD network sites.”
Cumming told the Phuket Gazette that, “Asia Web Direct has reached a stage in its development where it is ideally placed to capture more of the increasing Asian online market.”
Ian Jarrett
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