Articles tagged “opentable”

Both TripAdvisor and the Pricelne Group plan to feast on the mobile and global expansion of their dining reservations capabilities.

The dining discounts that travelers can now make through TripAdvisor because of its LaFourchette acquisition are mobile, compelling and undoubtedly of keen interest to its rival, The Priceline Group, which plans to wed OpenTable within a few months. Restaurants are only part one of TripAdvisor's dream to get very mobile in its in-destination offerings.

The Priceline Group and OpenTable wanted to sweep away these pesky shareholder lawsuits to get on with the task at hand -- closing the acquisition. In reaching a settlement, OpenTable had to open the curtain a bit more into how it went about conducting the sale process.

There is nothing fine about Booking.com's Fine Dining search. Booking.com should stick a fork in it, and start over.

Who asked who out? OpenTable kicked off the sale process and approached the Priceline Group about an acquisition via email in mid-April in a process that ultimately involved six other companies. The usual suspects likely expressed interest, and Priceline's initial non-binding bid was first and substantially higher than that of the other bidder.

Vacation rentals and alternative types of accommodations is such a hot space that it is fairly clear that HomeAway is likely to be joining forces with a major player sooner rather than later. With a $3.2 billion market cap, HomeAway is relatively affordable.

In the last couple of months the Priceline Group has acquired OpenTable, Buuteeq, Hotel Ninjas and Qlika. The big speculation is what lucky startup will be the next to get a Darren Huston letter to employees.

Just as we've seen the blending of business and leisure travel over the years, we are now entering a period where "travel" and local, from hotels digging into community culture and travel providers offering restaurant services and tours, will get mashed together in new ways.

The Priceline Group's intent to acquire OpenTable means that merger and acquisition activity in the travel industry in 2014 may even outdo 2013's frenetic pace. Get ready for the next shoe to drop.

Priceline has more room to go up or down than any of its online booking peers.