Booking Holdings to appeal EC decision to prohibit acquisition of Etraveli Group

Booking Holdings announced that it intends to appeal the European Commission’s recently announced decision to prohibit the company’s acquisition of Etraveli Group, from CVC Capital Partners, to the European courts.The company strongly believes the Commission is wrong on both the facts of the case and the law applicable to this transaction, which was cleared unconditionally by multiple competition authorities, including the UK Competition & Markets Authority and U.S. FTC. The Commission has fundamentally misconstrued the highly competitive travel markets for flights and accommodations, and its decision is an unexplainable departure from the Commission’s own Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, which are legally binding on the Commission. The acquisition, which would have combined two separate but complementary Europe-based businesses operating within separate, highly competitive industries, would have delivered tremendous benefits for consumers and partners by bringing more options and competitive pricing. Booking Holdings regrets very much the lack of convergence of the European Commission with other major international enforcers on this pro-competitive transaction. The European Commission’s decision does not alter Booking Holdings’ commitment to continue building its already growing and successful flights offering at Booking.com, and providing increased choice and transparency for consumers, as the company today also announces an extension of an existing and long-standing commercial partnership agreement between Booking.com and Etraveli Group through at least December 2028. While the acquisition would have allowed Booking.com to fully harness all of Etraveli Group’s capabilities and management team to offer a better flights product and better deals for consumers through, among other things, greater strategic and commercial alignment and enhanced integration, the continued partnership with Etraveli Group will further strengthen and accelerate Booking.com’s ongoing work to build a frictionless global flights offering, which is already live in over 50 countries, and deliver even more value to travelers.