Priceline and Ctrip Are Almost Second Cousins Now, Priceline CEO Says
Skift Take
The Priceline Group is moving much closer to Ctrip with a minority stake and CEO Darren Huston points to a series of additional moves in China in the next few years. Ctrip, though, hasn't always played well with other partners so it remains to be seen whether familial relations between these new second cousins will be long-standing.
Priceline Group CEO Darren Huston says his company and Ctrip now have a much-closer relationship than a typical "arms-length relationship."
"We are almost second cousins," Huston said somewhat whimsically, adding that the two companies are definitely not married. He was speaking during the Priceline Group's second quarter earnings call August 11.
Priceline agreed to invest $500 million in the Chinese booking giant, the largest online travel agency in the country, to take a 10% stake and will get "observer" status on the Ctrip board.
Huston said the minority stake is appropriate "in the North Asian context," and is likely th
