Expedia Group buys AirAsia out of joint-venture

Group buys remaining quarter share in AAE Travel for $60m Continue reading →

Expedia Group has acquired the remaining quarter share in a joint venture with Malaysian carrier AirAsia for $60 million.

The deal sees the global online travel group purchase the remaining 25% equity interest in AAE Travel.

The joint venture was formed by the two firms in 2011, with Expedia owning 75% equity since 2015.

The deal is net of AirAsia’s concurrent purchase of AirAsiaGo.com domain names and related assets from AAE Travel.

AirAsiaGo.com, which offers a range of travel products including AirAsia flight and hotel packages featuring Expedia Group accommodation content, will continue to be powered by Expedia.

Expedia president and chief executive Mark Okerstrom said: “AirAsia has been a fantastic partner for the past seven years, helping to establish brand Expedia as a strong and increasingly locally relevant player in the Asia region.

“Acquiring full ownership of AAE Travel reflects our belief in the immense potential for us in the over $485 billion Asian travel market.

“This transaction unlocks better integration of our Expedia Asia business into our core global travel platform, giving us even greater confidence in our ability to harness the huge growth potential that Asia represents.”

The low cost carrier’s chief executive Tony Fernandes added: “Expedia Group has been a great partner and we look forward to continuing to work very closely in the future, particularly regarding regional and global distribution of AirAsia flights.

“This sale represents the divestment of the last of our non-core investments from the previous round of joint ventures.

“These proceeds will be used to develop big unicorn products such as BigPay, Travel 360, Redbox Logistics and Ourshop.

“This first set of joint ventures has taught us a tremendous amount and shareholders who have seen huge returns from our first round of partnerships haven’t seen anything yet.”