A merger between Expedia and hotel booking site Hotels.com could be just a matter of time following their purchase by new media group USA Interactive.
After buying the rest of Expedia last month for $3.3billion, USA Interactive has bought up the shares in
Hotels.com that it did not already own in a $1.1 billion deal.
The company already held around 68% of Hotels.com shares.The acquisition of the remaining shares turns USA into one of the world’s dot com giants.
Although the company says that the two travel sites will continue to be operated separately, there would be obvious cost savings involved in uniting the two brands under one umbrella.
