Commission approves acquisition of Momondo by Priceline

Background and further information:

The investigation undertaken by the European Commission found that companies' metasearch activity are largely geographically complementary in the EEA, as Priceline has limited activities in the Nordic countries, where Momondo has a strong market position. Conversely, in countries like Germany and Austria, Priceline's brands have a stronger market position and Momondo is weaker. Therefore, the strengthening of the merged entity's market position in EEA markets will be limited.

The merged entity was to be competing with several other global meta search operators, such as Skyscanner, Trivago, TripAdvisor, Google (through Google Hotels and Google flights), as well as by operators of smaller, regional or national, meta search sites.

The Commission therefore concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns on any of the markets examined.

The transaction was notified to the Commission on 12 June 2017.

The European Commission decided on 17 July 2017 to approve unconditionally the acquisition of Momondo Group by Priceline Group, under the EU Merger Regulation. Both companies are active in the online travel sector.

The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area (EEA).