Priceline Agrees to Buy OpenTable for $2.6 Billion

Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN) has announced to buy OpenTable Inc. in a deal valued at $2.6 billion. The acquisition will add restaurant booking service to Priceline’s travel business and build a one-stop online experience to the global customers.

Priceline is known for its e-commerce online marketing and digital customer conversion across devices. It averages more than a million guests staying in accommodations booked through their sites every night and generated sales of over $6.8 billion last year alone. The company also maintains relationships with 480,000 accommodation locations in over 200 countries. Growing by adding multiple acquisitions over the years, the company’s brand sites include priceline.com, agoda.com and rentalcars.com, with recent acquisitions including kayak.com and booking.com. The acquisition strategy has focused on travel business until the OpenTable deal. OpenTable is a great match for The Priceline Group as it provides connections with over 31,000 restaurants and a customer base of 15 million. The acquisition will add dining to Priceline’s product offerings to customers and help Priceline grow its mobile presence, continue to build its brand and take the lead in offering services beyond just transportation and lodging.

This merger sparks rise in similar stocks such as GrubHub and Yelp. It highlights the value of online marketplace models, especially those with bookings and payment connection, and the potential growth in cross-device and cross-platform integrated data collection.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/priceline-to-buy-opentable-for-2-6-billion-1402660209