The world’s largest VTC, Uber, has explored a possible offer to integrate Expedia, the largest travel booking site, into its group. It is estimated at 20 billion of dollars. The company’s idea would be to find new segments to expand into to diversify from its current services. According to the Financial Times, Uber has contacted advisors to discuss the idea and see if an agreement as such would be possible.
The role of the executive director would be key since Dara Khosrowshahi, current CEO of Uber, held this position at Expedia from 2005 to 2017 and is still present there as a non-executive director. The presence of this manager could bring the two parties together and make the approach more user-friendly. Regardless, the interest would be at a very early stage and may not materialize. For the moment, there are no formal steps or public discussions underway.
This news has in any case already had an immediate impact on the markets. Expedia soars in the hours before quote 7.49%. For their part, investors do not view this approach so favorably in the case of Uber. The North American firm fell by almost 3% before the opening of the New York Stock Exchange. If the declines were confirmed, it would lose 80 dollars per share whereas yesterday it had lost 82 dollars on the wire. These days with a little more uncertainty represent just a stop on the long road that 2024 has brought, with more general rise. more than 40%.
Since Uber went public in 2019, it began its career as a transportation app. However, this operation would represent a complete paradigm shift for the company’s project, accelerating a transformation already underway. It would no longer be a company offering a specific service, but would become a versatile application in which you can order a car to get around the city, but also book trains and flights. This adds to the expansion that the company has already achieved in the field of home delivery, business logistics and advertising, transforming its application with this new step into an empire in various areas.
Before this operation, Uber had already bought Postal workers for 2.442 million euros or Drizly for 1.1 billion. With these two movements, it has fully entered into competition in the field of home delivery. It then entered logistics with the purchase of Transplace Careem, for 2,073 million and 2,856 million respectively. However, if it managed to acquire Expedia, it would not only be the largest transaction in its history, but also a real step forward in its diversification plan.
