Expedia Inc has acquired online travel agency Travelocity from technology company Sabre Corp for $280 million in cash, the companies said in a statement on Friday, as consolidation in the online booking industry continues. The deal follows a 2013 marketing agreement in which Expedia Inc's technology powered platforms for Travelocity's U.S. and Canadian websites, while Travelocity drove additional web traffic to Expedia.The merger marks further consolidation in the online booking space, which has seen a number of acquisitions from Expedia Inc's main competitor, The Priceline Group, including its $2.6 billion takeover of restaurant reservation website OpenTable last year."Given the success that they've had with integrating Travelocity into Brand Expedia (through the 2013 agreement), it's a positive outcome," said S&P Capital IQ analyst Tuna Amobi.Expedia Inc, which owns brands ranging from the website that carries its name to Hotels.com and China's eLong, said in its October quarterly filing that its air ticket volumes grew 29 percent for the first three quarters of 2014, "primarily due to volume driven by Brand Expedia's agreement with Travelocity along with ongoing improvements for the Brand Expedia sites themselves."
Expedia, Inc. is an online travel company. The Company's portfolio of travel brands featuring supply portfolio including more than 260,000 hotels in 200 countries, 400 airlines, packages, rental cars, cruises, as well as destination services and activities. Shares of EXPE traded higher by 2.82% or $2.42/share to $88.13. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $62.76 and as high as $92.08. On average, 1972080 shares of EXPE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2132458.
Priceline Group Inc, formerly Priceline Com Incorporated, is an online travel company that offers its customers hotel room reservations at over 295,000 hotels worldwide through the Booking. Shares of PCLN fell by 0.95% or $-9.9851/share to $1039.69. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $990.69 and as high as $1378.96. On average, 799006 shares of PCLN exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 493390.
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