Mergers tips

Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan has outlined a roadmap for the airline’s impending merger with Air India, following staff concerns and recent operational disruption.

More than two months after Tripadvisor formed an independent committee to mull a potential sale, there has been silence from both controlling shareholder Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings and Tripadvisor itself.

Corporate travel could get complicated: Expedia Group has a big stake in Amex Global Business Travel. Booking.com is partners with CWT. What happens to those relationships if the merger between Amex GBT and CWT goes through? Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott specifically noted CWT’s ties to Booking.com for Business as an upside to the deal as it tries to reach more small businesses customers.

Ever since Liberty Tripadvisor disclosed in early February that it was exploring a potential transaction in which itself and Tripadvisor would be acquired in an all-cash deal, speculation was rife that a private equity firm was behind the possible move.

How many times was “churn” mentioned in Vacasa’s earnings call? 16 times, noted one executive in the short-term rental industry (and, yes, we counted too). 

The prospect of a deal to acquire Tripadvisor hung over the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday and executives didn’t offer any further details.

Expedia Group frequently talks up the benefits of its sale of corporate travel agency Egencia to American Express Global Business Travel. Benefits include: A 10-year pact to supply Amex GBT with lodging inventory, and Expedia’s equity stake in it, initially valued in 2021 at $815 million.

The CEO of JetBlue Airways testified in court on Monday that the company’s proposed $3.8 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines is a critical part of his plan to turn the airline into a more significant competitor to the four largest U.S. air carriers.

The U.S. Department of Justice heads to trial on Tuesday to urge a federal judge to block JetBlue Airways‘ planned $3.8 billion acquisition of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines.

Choice Hotels launched a bid Tuesday to acquire Wyndham Hotels & Resorts for $90 a share – a hostile offer that would create the largest budget hotel franchise in North America. Wyndham has rejected Choice’s bid.

California-based RedAwning announced it acquired channel manager Lexicon Travel Technologies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Malaysia’s Capital A has submitted plans for a corporate restructuring, which will involve the merger of its low-cost airline AirAsia with long-haul carrier AirAsia X.

Steven Udvar-Házy, the co-founder and executive chairman of lessor Air Lease Corporation, believes the airline industry will likely see more consolidation, especially in Europe. Udvar-Házy said at the recent Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas that while he doubts the continent’s low-cost carriers will be involved in any mergers, he sees Italy’s ITA and TAP Air Portugal as takeover targets.  

American timeshare company Travel+Leisure Group, formerly known as Wyndham Destinations, sold its British subsidiary Love Home Swap to HomeExchange. 

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, March 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Airbnb has denied all reports of acquiring Scottish property portal Letting Cloud. 

InteleTravel acquired corporate travel consortium Hickory Global Partners, a firm nod to the rise of blended travel as employees increasingly blur the lines between vacations with business trips.

Finnish short-term rental operator Bob W has acquired Munich-based German competitor Charly Hospitality.

Property manager Sonder, received a notice of delisting from Nasdaq because the company failed to satisfy the minimum bid price listing rule as its common stock traded below $1.00 per share for 30 consecutive business days. 

Guesty, the California-based property management software company, acquired vacation rental tech platform StaySense. 

Korean Air Lines’s proposed acquisition of rival Asiana may restrict competition in passenger and cargo air transport services between Europe and South Korea, EU antitrust regulators said on Wednesday.