Ctrip and Skyscanner: A Look at How the Deal Went Down

Skift Take
Ctrip’s purchase of Skyscanner continued the trend of metasearch consolidation and should provide Ctrip with support for its outbound and inbound businesses.
Last week we launched the latest report in our Skift Research service, A Deep Dive Into Ctrip and the China Online Travel Market 2017.
Below is an excerpt from our Skift Research Report. Get the full report here to stay ahead of this trend.
Ctrip acquired global metasearch player Skyscanner in December 2016 for £1.4 billion ($1.74 billion). At the time of the acquisition, we wrote that competitiveness for meta boils down to scale, brand strength, and technology. Skyscanner checked each box for Ctrip.
The company has strong traffic in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America, but lacks the scale Ctrip has in fulfillment and inventory. Ctrip should be a