Bad news from the EU for Booking

The European Union (EU) did not allow Booking, which offers accommodation and airline ticket booking services, to acquire Etraveli.

The EU Commission concluded that Booking’s acquisition of Etraveli would restrict competition in the online travel agency market and result in higher prices for consumers.

EU Commissioner Didier Reynders announced at a press conference in Brussels that Booking Holding’s bid to acquire ETraveli was not compatible with EU rules and was therefore banned.

WOULD INCREASE THE COST

“The Commission decided to block Booking’s acquisition of Etraveli,” Reynders said, stating that Booking’s acquisition of ETraveli would strengthen its dominant position in the online travel agency market and lead to higher costs for hotels and the consumers.

Booking Holding includes sites such as Booking.com, Rentalcars, Priceline, Agoda, Kayak, Momondo and Cheapflights. ETraveli offers flight ticketing services under the brands Gotogate, My Trip, Seat24 and SuperSaver.

Booking offered to buy Etraveli for 1.63 billion euros in 2021.

The EU Commission, which is responsible for supervising mergers and acquisitions in large-scale companies operating in Europe, can order relevant companies to take necessary measures to avoid non-competitive mergers and acquisitions or can prohibit the merger altogether. . (AA)