Expedia Inc. has acquired Travelocity from the Sabre Corporation in exchange for $280 million in cash, the two companies announced through a press release on Friday.
“Travelocity is one of the most recognized travel brands in North America, offering thousands of travel destinations to more than 20 million travelers per month,” said Expedia Inc. president and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a statement.
“The strategic marketing agreement we’ve had in place has been a marriage of Travelocity’s strong brand with our best-in-class booking platform, supply base, and customer service. Evolving this relationship strengthens the Expedia Inc. family’s ability to continue to innovate and deliver the very best travel experiences to the widest set of travelers, all over the world,” Khosrowshahi added.
Sabre president and CEO Tom Klein explained the decision to sell Travelocity:
“Our primary focus at Sabre is to provide mission-critical software solutions to our global airline, hospitality, and travel agency customers–and to help them support their customers every day. We have had a long and fruitful partnership with Expedia, most recently by partnering to strengthen the Travelocity business, so our decision to divest Travelocity is a logical next step for us both.”
Friday’s announcement comes on the heels of a 2013 marketing agreement between Expedia Inc. and Travelocity in which the former powered the platform for the latter’s U.S. and Canadian websites while at the same time allowing access to its supply and customer service program.
While it hasn’t yet been confirmed, the belief is that Expedia will retain the Travelocity brand.
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