CTRIP AMONG SUITORS FOR ETRAVELI
Buyout firms including Blackstone also considering offers for ProSiebenSat.1 unit
CTRIP.COM International Ltd, the biggest Chinese trip-booking website, is among suitors weighing bids for German media giant ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE’s online travel business, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Buyout firms including Blackstone Group LP were also considering offers for ProSiebenSat.1’s Etraveli AB unit, they said.
The Sweden-based business could fetch as much as €500 million (RM2.37 billion) in a sale, according to one of the people.
ProSiebenSat.1 was reviewing its online travel business and was getting “broad interest” from a mix of financial and strategic investors, said chief executive officer Thomas Ebeling.
It was in the middle of a process that it hoped to complete in the coming months, according to Ebeling.
Etraveli, which operates in 46 countries, provides airline tickets and hotel accommodation under brands including Gotogate, Supersaver and Travelstart.
ProSiebenSat.1 agreed to buy Etraveli in 2015 in a deal valuing the Swedish online travel agency at about €235 million.
A sale of Etraveli would add to recent deals in the travel industry, including KKR & Co’s purchase of adventure-travel specialist Travelopia from TUI AG.
Ctrip, which has a market value of about US$28 billion (RM121.8 billion), bought the United Kingdom travel search site Skyscanner Ltd last year for £1.4 billion (RM7.83 billion).
Ctrip had net cash and cash equivalents of about US$5 billion at the end of March, according to its latest earnings report. Bloomberg