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Priceline completes acquisition of Kayak
DigitalPriceline completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of Kayak today, meaning Kayak ceases trading as a public company, and becomes a Priceline subsidiary. Game on. Priceline says it paid $522.4 million in cash and issued more than 1.5 million shares of common stock to pay for the right to meld the travel metasearch company into the Priceline [...]
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Kayak first quarter profit plummets in last hurrah as independent company
DigitalKayak’s first quarter profit fell more than 48%, compared with a year earlier, as the travel metasearch company increased its stocked-based compensation, and spending on brand and online marketing. Kayak filed its results with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, and it could be the final time such detail is publicized as Priceline’s $1.8 billion [...]
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The online travel agencies’ hotel tax mess: Every state, every case
DigitalThe City of Los Angeles sued online travel agencies such as Expedia, Priceline, Travelocity and Orbitz in 2004, and over the intervening nine years, lawyers have built careers on the litigation. Oh, some cases have been resolved, with OTAs winning the majority, but losing some big ones. Looking at Priceline as a case in point, [...]
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Priceline CEO: We won’t bias Kayak search results
DigitalWith Priceline’s acquisition of Kayak expected to close May 21, Priceline will have a new weapon in its arsenal, but CEO Jeffery Boyd vowed today that Priceline won’t do anything to bias Kayak’s search results. Appearing on CNBC today, Boyd said that Priceline won’t do anything to upset the level playing field that exists among [...]
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Priceline-Kayak merger should close on May 21, thanks to regulators’ approval
DigitalPriceline and Kayak said on Thursday they expect their $1.8 billion merger to close on May 21. The two companies said they have received all the needed approvals from regulatory agencies. Norwalk, Conn.-based Priceline.com Inc. announced last November that it would buy competitor Kayak Software Corp. for $1.8 billion in cash and stock. Kayak, which [...]
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Priceline posts healthy first quarter profit, but Wall Street thinks guidance is a bummer
DigitalPriceline.com Inc., the largest U.S. online-travel agent by market value, forecast second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as international expansion exposes the company to economic swings in Europe. Profit, excluding some items, will be $8.87 to $9.45 a share in the current period, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company said in a statement today. Analysts were projecting [...]
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Priceline purchase of Kayak approved by UK, deal to close May 21
DigitalThe nail-biting is over. The last major hurdle to Priceline’s $1.8 billion of Kayak was removed when the UK’s Office of Fair Trading today announced that it cleared the merger after conducting a regulatory review. The transaction is slated to close May 21. The merger had initially been slated to close during the first quarter [...]
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Top travel sites then and now: How usability has evolved in travel
DigitalWhat did Expedia look like before the site and its peers turned the bricks and mortar travel agent industry on its head? And how did airlines connect with customers online when dial-up connections were the norm? It seems like another lifetime when these online travel sites broke onto the scene in the mid- to late- [...]
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Shatner and Priceline put pressure on Hotwire as parent Expedia’s Q1 net loss widens
DigitalWilliam Shatner’s Priceline Negotiator character died awhile back, but the reincarnated Shatner, teaming with actress Kaley Cuoco in a series of commercials, have become Hotwire’s worst nightmare. That tidbit emerged as Expedia Inc. today reported that its first quarter net loss widened dramatically as Priceline’s recently launched Express Deals and the accompanying Shatner-Cuoco ad campaign, along with car-rental consolidation, put [...]
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Priceline: Mobile users booking lots of one-way flights
TransportNearly half of travelers booking airline tickets using Priceline’s mobile apps and mobile website booked one-way tickets for domestic and international flights, Priceline says. That was one of the nuggets that Priceline released today about the habits of customers using its iPhone and Android apps, as well as the company’s mobile website. Priceline, Expedia and [...]
