Skift Take
Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi couldn't have been more vehement in recent months about his company's long-term investment in and commitment to eLong. Well, there goes that.
In a major about-face, Expedia Inc., which previously emphasized that it was committed to China for the long haul through its majority stake in money-losing online travel agency eLong, sold its 62.4% stake to Ctrip and other investors.
Ctrip, which competes with eLong and Qunar among other players in the take-no-prisoners Chinese travel market, acquired a 37.6 percent stake in eLong for $400 million.
As part of the transaction, Ctrip and Expedia "agreed to cooperate with each other to allow their respective customers to benefit from certain travel product offerings for specified geographic markets."
But the agreement appears to be somewhat of a Ctrip snub of the Priceline Group, which in August 2014 agreed to invest up to $500 million in Ctrip and has a deal where it can hold up to 10% equity in Ctrip.
Priceline Group CEO Darren Huston said at the time that Priceline and Ctrip were "almost second cousins," although in Priceline's first quarter of 2015 earnings call Huston said
