Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc. is an American online travel shopping company for consumer and small business travel.[3] Its websites, which are primarily travel fare aggregators and travel metasearch engines, include Expedia.com, Vrbo (previously HomeAway), Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, Travelocity, trivago and CarRentals.com.[4]

Expedia Group, Inc.
TypePublic
ISINUS65248E2037
IndustryTravel technology
PredecessorLiberty Expedia Holdings
FoundedOctober 22, 1996 (1996-10-22) (as a division of Microsoft)
FounderRich Barton
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington, U.S.
Key people
Peter Kern (CEO)
Products
Revenue US$4.24 billion (FY 2020)[1]
US$903 million (2019)[1]
US$565 million (2019)[1]
Total assets US$21.42 billion (2019)[1]
Total equity US$6.129 billion (2017)
Number of employees
~24,500 (December 2018)[2]
Websitewww.expediagroup.com

According to Rich Barton, the company's first CEO, the word "Expedia" is derived from a combination of "exploration" and "speed".[5]

History

Founded as a division of Microsoft in October 1996,[6] Expedia was spun off into a public company in 1999.[7]

In 2001, IAC/InterActiveCorp (known at the time as USA Networks Inc) bought a controlling interest in the company for an estimated $1.5 billion.[8]

In 2003, it was fully purchased by IAC/InterActiveCorp and became part of IAC Travel.[9] Rich Barton resigned as CEO and was replaced by Erik Blachford.

In December 2004, IAC announced plans to spin off IAC Travel into Expedia. Dara Khosrowshahi was announced as the new CEO.

In August 2005, IAC spun off Expedia Inc., which owned its travel group of businesses, including Expedia, Expedia Corporate Travel (now Egencia), TripAdvisor, Classic Vacations, eLong, Hotels.com, and Hotwire.com.[10]

In 2011 Expedia acquired Travel Smart Vacations travel company in Mexico for 11.3Million Dollars.

In December 2011, Expedia, Inc. spun out TripAdvisor Media Group, retaining its portfolio of travel transaction brands.[11]

On December 21, 2012, Expedia bought a majority stake in travel metasearch engine Trivago in a combined cash and stock deal worth €477 million (approximately $630 million).[12]

In 2012, Expedia's Egencia unit acquired Via Travel, the largest travel company in Norway.[13]

In 2014, Expedia acquired Wotif.com for $658 million.[14]

In September 2014, Expedia Inc. partnered with Citigroup and created the Expedia+ card whose members can earn bonus points and earn benefits and priority customer service through the website.[15]

In January 2015, Expedia acquired Travelocity from Sabre Corp for $280 million. Expedia previously partnered with Travelocity to provide the technology platform for Travelocity's US and Canada points of sale.[16]

In 2015, Expedia acquired Orbitz for $1.6 billion in cash.[17]

In February 2015, the company announced it would be moving its headquarters to Seattle.[18]

Panoramic view of Expedia's Seattle campus under construction, 2019.

In July 2015, Expedia and Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com participated in an investment of $11M in Wingz.[19]

In 2015, Expedia bought HomeAway for $3.9 billion.[20]

In March 2017, Chelsea Clinton was named to the board of Expedia. In her newly named position, Ms. Clinton will get $45,000 a year in cash, plus $250,000 a year in stock vesting over three years.[21]

In August 2017, Mark Okerstrom became the President and CEO of Expedia, Inc.[22]

In March 2018, Expedia, Inc. announced that it had changed its name to Expedia Group, Inc.[23]

On Dec. 4, 2019, Mark Okerstrom and Alan Pickerill resigned as CEO and CFO, respectively. At that time, Expedia Group's chairman, Barry Diller, took over day-to-day operations, while the Chief Strategy Officer, Eric Hart, became acting CFO.[24]

In February, 2020, Expedia announced it was cutting 3,000 jobs, roughly 12% of the workforce, citing a "disappointing 2019." Diller, in his role as acting CEO, stated the company had become “sclerotic and bloated” and that employees were “all life and no work.”[25]

On 23 April 2020, Peter Kern was appointed as CEO of Expedia Group.

Expedia's revenue dwindled from $12 billion in 2019 to $5.2 billion in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[26]

According to the Travel Market Report, from January to December 2020 the U.S. Department of Transportation received 14,604 complaints about Expedia and other online travel agencies (OTAs) from customers trying to get refunds for cancelled flights.[27] As the source notes: "On social media, customers complained of excessively long call times and being unable to get through to a representative, leading to travelers being unable to make any changes to their travel plans or start refunds. Some people said they could not get a hold of someone for as much as 24 hours and one person said they called over 30 times."[28]

On 1 March 2021, Najafi Companies acquired the website, brand and employees of Classic Vacations from Expedia Group. The transfer of the ownership of Classic Vacations will be complete by April 2, 2021.[29]

On 2 November 2021, American Express Global Business Travel completed the acquisition of Egencia from Expedia Group [30]

Mergers and acquisitions

Expedia's first acquisition was Travelscape for US$89.75 million and VacationSpot.com for US$80 million on March 17, 2000. It subsequently acquired Classic Custom Vacations in March 2002 for $78 million. The company has made four divestments, in which parts of the company are sold to another company. On December 31, 2000, Technology Crossover Ventures acquired a 7% minority stake in Expedia for $50 million. IAC acquired a 65% majority stake in the company on February 5, 2002, for $1.372 billion, and a year later, on August 8, 2003, USA Interactive acquired Expedia for $3.636 billion. Expedia was ultimately spun off as a separate entity with a value of $7.981 billion. The company made the most acquisitions in 2002 when it acquired three companies: Classic Custom Vacations, Metropolitan Travel, and Newtrade Technologies.[31]

In January 2015, Expedia acquired the online travel agency Travelocity from the tech firm Sabre Corporation for $280 million.[32]

Acquisitions
Date Company Business Country Value (USD) References
March 17, 2000 Travelscape Internet service provider  United States $89,750,000 [33]
March 17, 2001 Vacationspot Internet service provider  United States $70,850,000 [34]
March 11, 2002 Classic Custom Vacations[note 1] Travel agency  United States $78,000,000 [35]
July 11, 2002 Metropolitan Travel Travel agency  United States — [36]
October 28, 2002 Newtrade Technologies Reservation software  Canada — [37]
April 5, 2004 Activity World Travel and touring  United States — [38]
April 12, 2004 Egencia Travel agency  France — [39]
July 15, 2008 Venere.com Hotel Booking Engine  Italy €200,000,000 [40]
October 18, 2010 Mobiata Mobile App Developer  United States — [41]
January 12, 2011 Travel Smart Vacation Travel Company  Mexico $11,300,000
April 27, 2012 VIA Travel Travel Management Company  Norway — [42]
March 12, 2013 trivago GmbH Hotel Metasearch Engine  Germany $564,000,000 [43]
July 6, 2014 Wotif Travel Agency  Australia $657,000,000 [44]
January 23, 2015 Travelocity Travel Agency  United States $280,000,000 [45]
September 17, 2015 Orbitz Travel Agency  United States $1.6×10^9 [46]
November 4, 2015 HomeAway Holiday Rental Service  United States $3.9×10^9 [47]
October 25, 2018 Pillow Short-Term Rental Management  United States — [48]
October 25, 2018 ApartmentJet Short-Term Rental Management  United States — [49]
August 22, 2019 CanadaStays Holiday Rental Service  Canada — [50]

Divestitures
Date Acquirer Target company Target business Acquirer country Value (USD) References
December 31, 2000 Technology Crossover Ventures Expedia, Inc.[note 2] Online travel  United States $50,000,000 [51]
February 5, 2002 USA Networks Expedia, Inc.[note 3] Online travel  United States $1.372×10^9 [52]
August 8, 2003 USA Interactive Expedia, Inc.[note 4] Online travel  United States $3.636×10^9 [53]
August 9, 2018 IAC/InterActiveCorp Expedia Inc.[note 5] Online travel  United States $7.981×10^9 [54]
April 10, 2005 Eviivo RezOvation and Webervations. Reservation platforms  United Kingdom Unknown [55]
November 2, 2021 American Express Global Business Travel Egencia Corporate Travel  United States Unknown [56]

South Carolina sales tax suit

On January 18, 2011, Travelscape, a subsidiary of Expedia Inc. based in Las Vegas, was ordered to pay $6.3 million in back sales taxes to South Carolina by the state's supreme court. Travelscape argued that South Carolina's efforts to tax online retailers located out-of-state violate the Dormant Commerce Clause. In a unanimous ruling, the court determined that the company has a presence in the state sufficient to be required to collect sales tax. While Travelscape does not have physical facilities in South Carolina, the court determined that frequent sales trips made by its employees and the fact that the company furnished hotel rooms in the state establish its presence for tax purposes.[57]

Office locations

Expedia Group has its headquarters on Elliott Bay in Seattle.

On April 2, 2015, Expedia announced that it would move its headquarters to the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle by the end of 2018, purchasing the Amgen campus on the Elliott Bay waterfront for $228.9 million.[58] As part of the move, Expedia is proposing an expansion of office space at the 41-acre (17 ha) campus to 1.23 million square feet (114,000 m2) to accommodate employees, designed by ZGF Architects.[59][60]

The move was later delayed to 2019, citing some logistical hurdles including the commute from the Eastside to Seattle as well as traffic congestion near the campus.[61] Incentives for employees to seek alternative forms of transportation were also announced, with the company exploring company shuttle services from park and rides in Redmond.[62]

In addition to the campus, Expedia gained ownership of the Helix bridge, now named Expedia Group Bridge, and a plot of land now used as a transportation hub for Expedia employees.

Criticism

Involvement in Israeli settlements
See also: List of companies operating in West Bank settlements

On 12 February 2020, the United Nations published a database of all business enterprises involved in certain specified activities related to the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Golan Heights.[63][64] Expedia Group has been listed on the database in light of its involvement in activities related to "the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements".[63][64] The international community considers Israeli settlements built on land occupied by Israel to be in violation of international law.[65][66][67]

Expedia was involved in a number of lawsuits including class action lawsuits during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular for refusing refunds for flights canceled over the coronavirus outbreak.[68][69][70][71]

In August 2016, Buckeye Tree Lodge and Sequoia Village Inn, LLC filed a class-action lawsuit in California accusing the company and its partners of "brazen deceit" by coordinating with internet search engines and social media institutions to return false results on lodging entities in favor of those affiliated with their websites, in violation of the Lanham Act.[72][73] The lawsuit was settled in April 2021, after the company promised not to engage in false advertising.[26]

See also
  •  Companies portal

Explanatory notes
  1. Classic Custom Vacations was acquired from Global Vacation Group.
  2. Technology Crossover Ventures acquired a 7% minority stake in Expedia Inc.
  3. USA Networks acquired a 65% majority stake of Expedia Inc.
  4. USA Interactive acquired remaining interests in Expedia Inc.
  5. IAC/InterActiveCorp spun off Expedia Inc.

References
  1. "Expedia Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Results". ir.expediagroup.com. February 13, 2020.
  2. "Expedia Group Company Profile". www.craft.co.
  3. "EXPE:NASDAQ GS Stock Quote - Expedia Group Inc". Bloomberg.com.
  4. Reuters Expedia Group Reuters Profile
  5. "The Expedia Affiliate Program [Full Review]". June 21, 2018.
  6. "Microsoft Expedia Travel Services Debuts on the Web". Stories. October 22, 1996.
  7. Stein, Tom (September 24, 1999). "Microsoft to Spin Off Expedia". SFGate. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  8. "USA Networks to buy control of Expedia". money.cnn.com. July 16, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  9. Hansell, Saul (March 20, 2003). "Big Holder Buying Rest Of Expedia In Stock Deal". The New York Times.
  10. "IAC Completes Spin-Off of Expedia, Inc" (Press release). PRNewswire. August 9, 2005.
  11. "Expedia, Inc. Completes Spin-off of TripAdvisor, Inc" (Press release). PRNewswire. December 20, 2011.
  12. Colleen Taylor (December 21, 2012). "Expedia Buys Majority Stake In European Hotel Search Site Trivago For $632 Million". TechCrunch.
    Chapman, Lizette (December 21, 2012). "Expedia Acquires Majority of Trivago in Win for Insight Ventures". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.
    "Expedia to acquire stake in German hotel site". Reuters. December 21, 2012.
  13. Savitz, Eric (March 27, 2012). "Expedia's Egencia Unit Buys Norway-based VIA Travel". Forbes.
  14. "Expedia Agrees to Buy Wotif for $658M". CBS News. Associated Press. July 7, 2014.
  15. "Expedia®+ Card from Citi". CreditCards.com.
  16. Dastin, Jeffrey (January 23, 2015). "Expedia Inc acquires Travelocity in $280 million deal". Reuters.
  17. Lunden, Ingrid (February 12, 2015). "Expedia Buys Orbitz For $1.6B In Cash To Square Up To Priceline".
  18. "Expedia confirms Seattle move, will buy Amgen campus for $229M, relocate from Bellevue by 2018". GeekWire. February 5, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  19. Jean-Baptiste Su (January 25, 2016). "Wingz Raises $11 Million To Disrupt Airport Rides, Plans Nationwide Expansion". Forbes. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  20. "Expedia to Buy HomeAway for $3.9 Billion". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 4, 2015.
  21. Kelly Riddell (March 20, 2017). "Chelsea Clinton gets $250K/year Expedia board seat, just 'cuz". Washington Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  22. "Expedia, Inc. Announces New CEO". PR Newswire. Associated Press. August 30, 2017.
  23. "Expedia, Inc. Announces Name Change to Expedia Group, Inc". Multivu. Associated Press. March 26, 2018.
  24. "Expedia boots out CEO and CFO, puts Barry Diller in charge". NBC News. December 4, 2019.
  25. Rosoff, Matt (February 25, 2020). "Expedia cutting 3,000 jobs following 'disappointing' year". CNBC. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  26. "Expedia Settles False Advertising Class Action With Hotels". Court House News.
  27. Montevago, Jessica (March 8, 2021). "OTAs Rack Up Complaints over COVID-19 Travel Cancellations". Travel Market Report.
  28. Montevago, Jessica (March 18, 2020). "Expedia Travel Clients Experience Chaos with COVID-19 Disruptions". TMR.
  29. "Private Equity Firm Najafi Companies Acquires Classic Vacations from Expedia". Travel Market Report. March 2, 2021.
  30. "American Express Global Business Travel completes acquisition of Egencia from Expedia Group". egencia.com. November 2, 2021.
  31. "Expedia, Inc. Mergers and Acquisitions". Thomson Financial. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
  32. Expedia Inc acquires Travelocity in $280 million deal. Reuters, January 26, 2015
  33. "Expedia Inc acquires Travelscape.com". Thomson Financial. March 17, 2000. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  34. "Expedia Inc acquires Vacationspot.com". Thomson Financial. March 17, 2001. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  35. "Expedia Inc acquires Classic Custom Vacations from Global Vacation Group Inc". Thomson Financial. March 11, 2002. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  36. "Expedia Inc acquires Metropolitan Travel Inc". Thomson Financial. July 11, 2002. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  37. "Expedia Inc acquires Newtrade Technologies Inc". Thomson Financial. October 28, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  38. "Expedia Inc acquires Activity World". Thomson Financial. April 5, 2004. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  39. "Expedia Inc acquires Egencia.com". Thomson Financial. April 12, 2004. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  40. "Expedia acquires Venere but what does it mean? Expedia acquires Venere but what does it mean?". Mediaroom.Expedia. Archived from the original on July 22, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  41. "Expedia Inc acquires Mobiata LLC". Thomson Financial. October 18, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  42. "Egencia Completes Acquisition of Nordic Travel Management Company VIA Travel". May 3, 2012. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  43. "Press Release".
  44. "Expedia Scores $703M Deal for Australia's Wotif (2014/07/07)". FOXBusiness. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  45. "Expedia Buys Travelocity for 280 Million in Cash". Techcrunch. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  46. "Expedia begins integration of Orbitz after deal closes". Reuters. September 17, 2015.
  47. Lardinois, Frederic. "Expedia Acquires Airbnb Rival HomeAway For $3.9B". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  48. Al-Muslim, Aisha (October 25, 2018). "Expedia Buys Pillow and ApartmentJet, Moves More Into Airbnb's Turf". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  49. Levy, Nat (October 25, 2018). "Expedia acquires 2 startups that make it easier to list apartments on HomeAway". GeekWire. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  50. Menze, Jill (August 22, 2019). "Expedia Group fully acquires CanadaStays to boost vacation rental presence up north". Phocuswire.
  51. "Technology Crossover Ventures acquires a minority stake in Expedia Inc from Microsoft Corp (2000/12/31)". Thomson Financial. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  52. "USA Networks Inc acquires Expedia Inc from Microsoft Corp". Thomson Financial. February 5, 2002. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  53. "USA Interactive acquires remaining interest in Expedia Inc from USA Networks Inc". Thomson Financial. August 8, 2003. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  54. "IAC/InterActiveCorp spins off Expedia Inc". Thomson Financial. August 9, 2005. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  55. "hotel-and-bb-booking-platform-eviivo-acquires-tech-tools-from-homeaway".
  56. "American Express Global Business Travel completes acquisition of Egencia from Expedia Group". egencia.com. November 3, 2021.
  57. Travelscape told to pay back sales-tax revenue, by Valerie Miller, Las Vegas Business Press, January 31, 2011,
  58. Office of Mayor Ed Murray (April 2, 2015). "Mayor Murray announces Expedia, Inc. headquarters will move to Seattle" (Press release). Office of the Mayor of Seattle. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
    "Expedia's new Seattle HQ will have 4,500 employees in a few years". The Seattle Times. April 2, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
    "Expedia Announces Plans for New Headquarters in Seattle" (Press release). Expedia, Inc. April 2, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  59. "Expedia clears major planning milestone in preparation for 2019 HQ move to Seattle". GeekWire. June 14, 2017.
  60. Bhatt, Sanjay (August 6, 2015). "Expedia has long-term plan to vastly expand new campus". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
    "Expedia picks BCJ to design new HQ". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. August 4, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  61. Demmitt, Jacob (September 23, 2015). "Expedia pushes back target date for Seattle move until 2019, will test new commuter shuttle". GeekWire. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  62. Bhatt, Sanjay (September 24, 2015). "Expedia offers incentives to reduce staff solo commutes". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  63. "UN rights office issues report on business activities related to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. February 12, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  64. "Database of all business enterprises involved in certain activities relating to Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank (A/HRC/43/71)". ReliefWeb. February 14, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  65. "S/RES/2334(2016)". United Nations Security Council. December 23, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  66. "Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" (PDF). International Court of Justice. July 9, 2004. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  67. "Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention". International Committee of the Red Cross. December 5, 2001. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  68. "Traveler sues Expedia for refusing refunds on canceled flights during COVID-19 pandemic". USA Today.
  69. "Hotels Accuse Expedia, Orbitz of Brazen Deceit". Court House News.
  70. "Consumers grow frustrated with Expedia over COVID-19 refunds". WFTV. June 7, 2021.
  71. "Expedia refund frustration". Yahoo.
  72. Elliot, John (September 9, 2016). "Buckeye Tree Lodge files lawsuit against Expedia". The Kaweah Commonwealth. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  73. "Buckeye Tree Lodge and Sequoia Village Inn, LLC v. Expedia, Inc. et al". Justia. August 17, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.