Booking Site Acquisitions: Who Bought What and Who Was Shut Out in 2016
Photo Credit: In terms of mergers and acquisitions, Expedia's Dara Khosrowshahi needs to look right back over his shoulder at Jane Sun's Ctrip. The two CEOs have been buying companies at a frenzied clip over the last two years. Skift/Ctrip
Skift Take
Expedia got a lot of buzz for its 2015 buying binge, but over the last two years China's Ctrip has been on an equal footing with Expedia in terms of acquisition activity. At the same time, TripAdvisor is stockpiling dining-related sites, having bought five and invested in two others.
It isn't widely appreciated, but if you tally the mergers and acquisitions' activity of the globe's major online travel agencies over the last two years, Expedia Inc. and Ctrip actually battled to a near tie, spending around $5.8 billion and $5.5 billion, respectively.
Expedia seemingly took out almost every online travel agency in site in 2015, and Ctrip likewise eliminated a couple of Chinese competitors, buying one from Expedia, that same year.
But after huge acquisitions in the last couple of years, the Priceline Group (OpenTable in 2014) and Expedia Inc. (Travelocity, Orbitz Worldwide and HomeAway in 2015) sat out 2016 -- and didn't buy a thing.
Or anything worth reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Pity the bevy of travel startups who traditionally look to Priceline and Expedia, with their huge cash stockpiles, to facilitate exits for investors.
Among the four largest online travel sites, Priceline is "winning" the acquisition sweepstakes so far in
