Chinese in £1.4bn swoop for Skyscanner
● Bumper takeover by Chinese online travel business seen as ‘positive’ move ● Deal is the latest major acquisition of a UK tech company by an overseas buyer
Skyscanner, the Edinburghbased travel search website, will retain its headquarters and Scottish workforce after agreeing to a bumper £1.4 billion takeover deal by a Chinese peer.
The move by Ctrip, China’s biggest online travel business, is likely to trigger multi-million-pound payouts for the Scottish tech firm’s founders and investors, including chief executive and cofounder Gareth Williams.
The management team at Skyscanner is set to remain in place.
Skyscanner, the travel search website, will retain its Edinburgh headquarters and Scottish workforce after agreeing to a bumper £1.4 billion takeover deal by a Chinese peer.
The swoop by Ctrip, which ranks as China’s biggest online travel business, is also likely to trigger multi-million payouts for the Scottish technology firm’s founders and investors, including chief executive and co-founder Gareth Williams.
The management of Skyscanner are to remain in place and run the company independently, it was confirmed yesterday as details of the surprise deal emerged.
Skyscanner was launched in 2003 to let users compare prices from different travel sites when searching for flights, hotels and rental cars. Its services are available in more than 30 languages and the company has some 60 million monthly active users.
The business is also one of the UK’S few tech “unicorns” – firms with a valuation in excess of $1bn – and has 800 staff globally, including 450 across Edinburgh and Glasgow. Williams said the deal took the firm “one step closer to our goal of making travel search as simple as possible for travellers around the world. Skyscanner will remain operationally independent and continue to deliver the Skyscanner products that travellers know and love.”
The takeover adds to a string of acquisitions by Chinese companies in search of UK technology, brands and access to foreign markets. It also comes hot on the heels of this week’s Autumn Statement pledge to provide significant monetary support for UK tech and digital companies in an attempt to keep them here for the long term.
Dan Ridsdale, an analyst at Edison Investment Research, said: “The sale of Skyscanner overseas comes just a day after the UK government pledged more … fiscal support for UK tech so more fledgling firms can build for longer term growth as stand-alone businesses.
“Skyscanner is now an established tech-driven business which disrupted the travel industry in favour of consumer purchasing power years ago. A sale to a larger compa- ny of whatever national origin makes sense if it allows for further growth and diversification.”
One of the biggest beneficiaries from the deal will be invest- ment outfit Scottish Equity Partners, which has about one-third of the equity in Skyscanner. It first invested in the firm in 2007 and has pumped £9 million into the business, some of which had been realised before yesterday’s deal.
Calum Paterson, SEP’S managing partner and a nonexecutive director of Skyscanner, said: “It is very important for the UK and indeed Scotland to develop a strong technology sector.
“This acquisition is really a positive development. Ctrip will enable Skyscanner to really accelerate its growth internationally and extend its global reach.
“Skyscanner will continue to operate independently.”
“Skyscanner will remain operationally independent and continue to deliver the Skyscanner products that travellers know and love”
GARETH WILLIAMS