Chinese travel site Ctrip buys Skyscanner for $1.7b

SHANGHAI: China’s largest online travel agency Ctrip will buy British flight search app Skyscanner for $1.7 billion (Dh6.24 billion), the companies said, as it steps up its overseas ambitions.

The travel service provider will pay £1.4 billion (Dh5.49 billion), mainly in cash, for the Edinburgh-based firm, they said in separate statements late Wednesday.

Nasdaq-listed Ctrip, partly owned by Chinese search giant Baidu, provides online booking for airline and railway tickets as well as hotels, and describes itself as China’s largest travel company. It generated more than 350 billion yuan (Dh187.3 billion; $51 billion) in gross merchandise value last year, the firm said on its website, referring to a measure of online sales. (AFP)