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
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