Expedia Makes $270 Million Dollar Investment in Latin America’s Decolar
Photo Credit: Expedia Inc. took a minority stake in Despegar, the leading online travel agency in Latin America. Despegar
Skift Take
Barring a reversal in market conditions, buckle up because 2015 is looking like it will be a very active year in mergers and acquisitions among online travel companies.
With Expedia Inc. the Priceline Group and, to a lesser extent, TripAdvisor, seemingly trying to acquire almost every attractive and affordable missing piece in sight, investment activity turned to Latin America as Expedia Inc. took a minority stake in Decolar.com.
The $270 million move, which includes primary and second investments, means Expedia Inc. expands its 12-year-old relationship with Decolar, and takes a stake that's less than 20 percent, according to Expedia Inc. CFO Mark Okerstrom.
The Priceline Group, meanwhile, is not sitting around passively. Just a couple of weeks after announcing a $1.13 billion (1 billion euros) public offering of senior notes, Priceline announced today another underwritten offer of senior notes of $5
