CHINA is a notoriously tough nut to crack for international travel companies, but the Priceline Group this week upped its stake in Chinese OTA Ctrip.com International in a show of faith for the world’s largest outbound market.
A Priceline press release said the company is injecting another US$250 million in Ctrip via a convertible bond, and has also received permission to increase its stake in China’s leading online travel company to 15 per cent.
This builds on Priceline’s US$500 million investment in Shanghai-based Ctrip last year. Assuming the conversion of both bonds, Priceline will own roughly 10.5 per cent of Ctrip’s shares.
The news comes only a few days after rival Expedia announced it was selling a 62 per cent stake in eLong, another Chinese OTA, to Ctrip.
Commenting on the deal in a statement, president and CEO of the Priceline Group, Darren Huston, said: “We consider Ctrip a market leader in China and we’re investing in a company and a team that we believe fits well with our long-term view of China as a market and the Chinese people as global travellers.”
