China’s Ctrip buys flight search company SkyScanner for $1.74 billion

Skyscanner, the Scotland-based flight search company, has been acquired by Chinese online travel giant Ctrip for £1.4 billion, or approximately $1.74 billion. The deal is predominantly cash and is expected to close before the end of this year. Once completed, SkyScanner will operate independently of Ctrip, both parties confirmed. Ctrip was founded in 1999, and it is China’s largest online travel firm. Its revenue for Q3 2016, which was announced today, came in at RMB 5.6 billion ($810 billion), that’s up 75 percent year-on-year, with a slim $4 million net profit. Ctrip recently raised close to $1 billion from the sale of convertible notes, a raise that looks to have be coordinated with the Skyscanner deal.

This news comes less than a year after Skyscanner, which has over 700 staff across 10 offices, raised $192 million in funding in January 2016 to expand its reach worldwide. This is the largest travel tech acquisition in Europe to date. SkyScanner placed much emphasis on Asia — partnering with Yahoo Japan and acquiring China-based travel search startup Youbibi — but the deal promises to help Ctrip expand its business into international markets.
“Skyscanner will complement our positioning at a global scale and Ctrip will leverage our experience, technology and booking capabilities to Skyscanner’s,” Ctrip co-founder and executive chairman James Jianzhang Liang said in a statement.