Priceline Positions Itself for 2015 Acquisition Spree With $1.13 Billion Note Offering

All of those acquisitions don’t come cheap.

The Priceline Group announced today it intends to raise $1.13 billion (or 1 billion euros) in a public offering of senior notes to be used for general corporate purposes, including share repurchases, paying down debt and making acquisitions.

The offering would close on March 3, 2015 for the 12-year notes.

As of the end of 2014, the Priceline Group had more than $8 billion in cash on hand and the offering of senior notes could supplement that and help fund additional acquisitions.

In 2014, the Priceline Group spent $2.5 billion, net of cash acquired, for acquisitions, including $2.4 billion for restaurant reservations platform OpenTable.

In addition, the Priceline Group, which includes Booking.com, Agoda, Kayak and Priceline.com, among other brands, last year invested about $921 million in China’s leading online travel agency, Ctrip.

Expedia Was Busy Too

The Priceline Group’s main rival, Expedia Inc., acquired Australia’s Wotif Group for $612 million in November 2014. Expedia also acquired three other companies, including Europe’s Auto Escape Group, in 2014 for a total of $85 million.

Expedia acqjuired Travelocity for $280 million in January 2015 and has agreed to acquire Orbitz Worldwide for roughly $1.6 billion.