Expedia Takes Majority Stake in AirAsia Joint Venture for $86 Million

Expedia Inc. wasn’t finished acquiring companies after its pending and completed purchases of Orbitz Worldwide, Travelocity, and Wotif in recent months: Expedia announced today it will take an additional 25 percent stake in its joint venture with AirAsia and will wield 75 percent control.

Expedia will put an additional $86.3 million into the joint venture, AAE Travel Pte. Ltd., which previously was a 50-50 distribution partnership in Asia between Expedia and AirAsia.

They launched the joint venture in 2011 and now operate Expedia-branded travel websites in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Philippines as well as AirAsiaGo.com.

The investment, which is expected to close before June 30, means that the performance of AAE Travel will be reported in Expedia’s financial results.