Priceline buys Momondo to create global travel search brand
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The Priceline Group has confirmed plans to acquire Momondo, the European travel meta-search company.
The agreement, which is worth US$550 million, will see Momondo and Cheapflights merged into Kayak to create a global travel search brand.
“Meta-search is appealing to consumers and we’re keen to expand our global footprint,” said Glenn Fogel, CEO of the Priceline Group. “Momondo and Cheapflights will be nice additions to our meta portfolio under Kayak.”
Under the terms of the cash transaction, Priceline will acquire all outstanding shares of the Momondo Group, which was founded as Cheapflights in 1996 and acquired the younger Momondo brand in 2011, before merging under the Danish company’s name.
Hugo Burge, CEO of Momondo Group, commented; “The Priceline Group has a proven track record of operating successful, customer-centric travel brands all over the world. We couldn’t be more excited to join such an esteemed group of loved brands and join forces with Kayak to bring the best in meta search to our growing customer bases worldwide.”
The acquisition is expected to close later in the year, subject to regulatory approvals. Following the deal, Momondo will be overseen by Kayak CEO, Steve Hafner.
“Momondo and Cheapflights have built great products serving loyal users across Europe,” said Hafner. “We’re looking forward to learning from them and sharing best practices as our brands expand globally.
The Priceline Group operates six main online travel brands: Booking.com, Priceline.com, Kayak, Agoda.com, Rentalcars.com and OpenTable.
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