Expedia to acquire Orbitz Worldwide in £900m deal

Online travel company Expedia has announced it will acquire sector peer Orbitz Worldwide for $1.38bn (£900m).

Last month, Bloomberg reported that Orbitz, the operator of CheapTickets website, was exploring a sale and was planning to reach out to potential buyers via a financial adviser.

Orbitz would be Expedia's third acquisitions in the last four months, as the group looks to challenge rival Priceline Group, which has a market capitalisation of $55bn, both than Expedia and Orbitz put together.

Expedia's officials were quick to dismiss the prospect of any antitrust issues.

"It is a $1.3trn industry and is highly fragmented [...] We are only a small player and our overall share is in single digits," said Expedia's chief financial officer Mark Okerstrom.

Expedia said it expected the deal for its sector peer to generate savings of $75m.

On Thursday, Orbitz reported a 37% rise in quarterly profit with gross bookings increased to $2.74bn from $2.48bn.

As of 15:04 in New York on Thursday, Expedia shares were up 16.19% to $90.88, while Orbitz shares were up 21.88% to $11.73.