Analysts Are Puzzled Why Booking Holdings Acquired HotelsCombined
Photo Credit: A still from a TV advertisement for travel price-comparison search company HotelsCombined that played in South Korea this spring. The brand was snapped up by online travel conglomerate Booking Holdings on Monday. HotelsCombined
Skift Take
The deal surprised analysts, some of whom didn't see an obvious logic for it. Yet one thing is sure: Online hotel sales are a bit like an old-fashioned butter market. A big chunk of butter changes hands multiple times and everyone gets their hands greasy.
Booking Holdings said on Monday it would acquire Sydney, Australia-based HotelsCombined to expand the company's travel price-comparison, or metasearch, offering.
Booking Holdings' intention with the deal will be revealed in the steps it takes with HotelsCombined by either investing in it or gutting it but keeping the name.
Those moves will reveal whether Kayak plans to be a global brand, whether it is shopping for better technology, and how dependent it sees itself on acquiring customers through paid advertising on Google.
Booking Holdings didn't reveal the price tag.
A handful of analysts and industry players estimated it paid between about $250 million and $300 million.
If true, that range would probably represent a very small amount above the company's likely annualized revenue. HotelsCombined did not disclose revenue. But it did claim to have facilitated $2 billion in hotel accommodation sales globally in 2017.
Statements from other travel metasearch players su
