Kayak-Momondo: What to Watch for as the Companies Combine
Photo Credit: The Momondo Group is Glenn Fogel's first major acquisition since becoming CEO of the Priceline Group although he's taken a leadership role in many others for the company before taking the helm. The Priceline Group / The Priceline Group
Skift Take
Expedia poured money into Trivago marketing at a loss. Current Priceline Group CEO Glenn Fogel just spent $550 million on helping Kayak grow. Does this mean he’s going to open the bankroll even further to assist Kayak-Momondo in its expansion?
The Priceline Group pulled the trigger, after going shopping in Europe on behalf of its Kayak metasearch unit, and acquired the UK and Denmark-based Momondo Group for $550 million in cash. There are things the deal does, doesn’t do, and things to watch out for as an integration of the two companies begins after the deal closes later this year.
The follow-up Security and Exchange Commission paper trail hasn’t been filed yet as of this writing, a couple of days after the deal announcement, but we now know that the talks kicked off in the Fall with Kayak taking the lead.
Skift exclusively reported in January that Kayak-Momondo deal talks were under way and at the time Kayak CEO Steve Hafner tried to do his best head-fake in leading us away from the story. He downplayed any possible engagement with Momondo, telling us that Kayak talks to everyone.
Apart from our sourcing, though, we were confident we were onto something when Hafner seemed to be pressuring Momondo in a not-so-v
