Articles tagged “mergers and acquisitions”

Switchfly, a travel tech firm specializing in loyalty and e-commerce upselling, has been taken over by private equity firms Golub Capital and L Capital.

Airbnb's move to offer more meetings spaces represents an example of one of Skift's 2019 Megatrends, as many giant online booking companies are looking for their next phases of growth by expanding into new areas.

It can take some airlines as long as a decade after a merger before they truly operate as one entity. But Alaska Airlines is working much faster to gobble up Virgin America. Part of that is because both carriers were relatively small. But by any standard, Alaska is moving quickly.

Is this the end of the story? We're willing to bet that this one still has more twists and turns to come.

Is Airbnb flailing at a way to build an expansion narrative ahead of an initial public offering? Buying HotelTonight would save some time and effort in making inroads with boutique hotels, but does Airbnb really need HotelTonight to do that? In travel, everyone is always talking to everyone so we're unsure how serious these informal talks ever were.

It's good news for regional passengers who rely on Flybe's services, but Virgin Atlantic will have plenty of work to do to make sure it can make the most of a combined long-haul, short-haul operation.

This tuck-in deal is minuscule, but it underscores Yatra's drive to maintain its position as India's largest online provider of travel booking tools for corporations. Yatra has the potential to build an "Egencia for India" over the course of five or 10 years.

These were the 10 biggest deals in travel in 2018. Were they the smartest decisions? We'll know in a few years. Hospitality-related acquisitions dominated our list; the online travel agencies made some big investments, but were absent as big buyers.

Airbnb could be in the initial stages of getting into property management. While such an initiative has its risks in terms of criticism from current property management partners, it seems like a much smarter strategy than expanding into very complex and difficult areas such as flights.

The acquisition of once-high-flying Tripping.com as a distressed asset was a losing deal for investors. It's not clear what the payoff will be for HomeToGo acquiring a Silicon Valley rival at vacation rental price-comparison. HomeToGo faces daunting expectations now, having raised $150 million.