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2 clusters · 10 sources · 4 days · First seen 12 days ago · Last updated 9 days ago

EU court blocks Booking Holdings eTraveli acquisition

Overview

The European Union’s General Court in Luxembourg has upheld a decision by the European Commission to block Booking Holdings from acquiring the Swedish flight specialist eTraveli. The deal, valued at approximately €1.63 billion ($1.9 billion), was prohibited due to antitrust concerns.

Regulators and judges determined that the acquisition would be anticompetitive by allowing Booking to use low-margin flight bookings as a channel to drive users toward its high-margin hotel services. This vertical integration was viewed as a way to reinforce Booking’s dominant position within the European travel sector and potentially increase costs for consumers and hotels.

While Booking Holdings has expressed disagreement with the ruling, stating it is “legally incorrect,” the court concluded that any potential efficiencies gained from the merger would not offset the negative impacts on market competition.

Entities

eTraveli · Booking Holdings · Booking Holdings Inc. · European General Court · Expedia Group, Inc.

Timeline

9 days ago

[BUSINESS] 2 sources
European court blocks Booking Holdings acquisition of Etraveli
The European General Court blocked Booking Holdings’ €1.63 billion acquisition of Etraveli, citing antitrust concerns regarding market dominance in the travel sector.
12 days ago

[BUSINESS] 8 sources
Booking loses EU court battle over eTraveli acquisition
An EU court has upheld the European Commission's decision to block Booking Holdings' acquisition of eTraveli, citing concerns that the merger would significantly harm market competition.

Sources

agenttravel.es · carmeloportal.com · cash.ch · ecommerce-news.es · finanzen.ch · preferente.com · rocketnews.com · sapo.pt · stocknews.com · techbox.sk