Booking Holdings Bought HotelsCombined for Only $140 Million
Photo Credit: Priceline CEO Glenn Fogel (L) appeared at the Skift Global Forum in New York City September 26, 2017. In the second quarter, Booking Holdings announced deals to acquire FareHarbor and HotelsCombined. Skift
Skift Take
Don't you just love those proverbial tuck-in acquisitions? Booking Holdings didn't break the bank for either HotelsCombined ($140 million) or FareHarbor ($250 million). Sometimes making smaller bets is a much smarter strategy than gargantuan deals, but only time will tell.
On the surface, at least, the price tag appears to be underwhelming.
When Booking Holdings announced last month that it intends to acquire Australia-based metasearch company HotelsCombined, the companies did not disclose deal terms, but it turns out the purchase price is $140 million in cash. That's probably one of the cheapest deals transacted by a major online travel agency for a metasearch, or comparison shopping, service in recent years. See the chart below.
In a quarterly financial filing, Booking Holdings stated: "In July 2018, the Company signed a definitive agreement to acquire a hotel meta-search company and will pay approximately $140 million in cash in connection with this acquisition."
The company in question is undoubtably HotelsCombined, which would come under the Kayak umbrella within Booking Holdings. The deal is expected to close later this year. It likely didn't d
