Expedia to Buy Orbitz in $1.3 Billion Deal
Published at
Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images(BELLEVUE, Wash.) — The world of travel deals just got a little smaller.
Expedia announced on Thursday it has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Orbitz and all of its brands — including CheapTickets, ebookers and HotelClub — for more than $1.3 billion.
The merger consolidates the former top three online travel sites — Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia — into one. Expedia already owns Travelocity, Hotwire, Hotels.com and CarRentals.com, as well as a number of niche sites.
Now, Priceline is left as Expedia’s main competitor in the U.S.
Rick Seaney, the CEO of FareCompare.com, says the consolidation might make discount travel harder in the future.
“Instead of having a lot of competition there’s going to be these huge, massive megabrands. We just don’t know what that will mean for consumers until we see what goes on there,” he tells ABC News Radio.
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.