Expedia buys Travelocity for $280M in cash

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Expedia has acquired travel-booking site Travelocity from the Sabre Corp. for $280 million in cash.

The deal adds to Expedia’s growing portfolio of websites. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company already owns nearly a dozen travel sites including Hotels.com, Hotwire and Egencia, the world’s fifth-largest corporate travel- management company.

Consumers shouldn’t notice any change because of a deal already in place. Since 2013, Expedia Inc. has been powering Travelocity’s U.S. and Canadian websites and providing Travelocity access to Expedia hotel supply and customer-service program.

The move allows Sabre to focus more on its back-end system for selling airline tickets, hotel rooms and car rentals. Sabre is one of three global distribution-system companies — along with Travelport and Amadeus — that handle sales for travel agencies and online booking sites such as Expedia.

“Travelocity is one of the most-recognized travel brands in North America, offering thousands of travel destinations to more than 20 million travelers per month,” Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia, Inc. said in a statement.

Expedia’s shares rose $1.62, or 1.9 percent, to $87.33 in midday trading Friday.

Competitor Orbitz Worldwide Inc. saw its stock price spike earlier this week on reports it is considering selling itself. Its shares rose 5 cents to $10.03 by midday Friday.

The other big travel booking is the Priceline Group, which owns sites such as Priceline, Booking.com, Kayak and OpenTable.