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Back in June, Bloomberg Gadfly encouraged USD 72 billion giant Priceline to consider an acquisition of its USD 9.2 billion rival TripAdvisor, an idea that holds true. Skyscanner — a Scottish online travel search company — certainly fits the bill. It was valued at more than USD 1.2 billion in a January fundraising round and is exploring options including a sale or IPO, according to Bloomberg News. Buying Skyscanner would not only eliminate a rival but also allow Priceline to boost its advertising revenues, by adding 50 million monthly users to its bargaining table. Pre-empting a deal for Skyscanner before it proceeds with a stock market listing would save Priceline hundreds of millions of dollars — a lesson that Priceline should have learned from its purchase of Kayak. The company inked a deal just four months after Kayak’s IPO and forked out USD 40 a share, a 54 percent premium to its USD 26 IPO price. |
