BEIJING: China's largest online travel agency Ctrip will acquire British flight comparison site Skyscanner for a whopping USD 1.7 billion as it aims to consolidate its global position, state media reported today.
Nasdaq-listed Ctrip said the purchase for 1.4 billion pounds (USD 1.7 billion), to be concluded by the end of this year, will be mainly in cash with the balance in shares and loan notes, Xinhua news agency reported.
The acquisition will strengthen both companies. Ctrip, which would become its majority share-holder, will consolidate its global position and Skyscanner get a boost in experience, technology and booking capability, a Ctrip statement quoted chairman James Jianzhang Liang as saying.
Skyscanner CEO Gareth Williams said the company will remain operationally independent.
Founded in 1999, Ctrip is China's largest online travel service provider. In 2015, it bought its rival Qunar and became the top online travel agency in China.
Ctrip made net revenue of 5.6 billion yuan (USD 820 million) in the third quarter of 2016, up 75 per cent from a year earlier, according to the company's latest financial report.
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