Skyscanner sold to China travel firm Ctrip in $1.75bn deal

Skyscanner, the UK-based travel search business, has been bought by Ctrip, China's biggest online travel firm.

According to BBC News, the deal values Skyscanner at about £1.4bn ($1.75bn).

The firm, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh, is available in more than 30 languages, with about 60 million monthly active users.

It was set up to let users compare prices from different travel sites when searching for flights, hotels, and rental cars.

Skyscanner said it would continue to run independently, with the same management team.

Ctrip was founded in 1999 and is one of China's best-known travel businesses.

The deal would "strengthen long-term growth drivers for both companies," said James Jianzhang Liang, co-founder and executive chairman of Ctrip.

"Skyscanner will complement our positioning at a global scale and Ctrip will leverage our experience, technology and booking capabilities to Skyscanner's," he added.

Skyscanner was set up in 2003, and co-founder and chief executive Gareth Williams said the deal took his firm closer to its goal "of making travel search as simple as possible for travellers around the world".

"Ctrip and Skyscanner share a common view - that organizing travel has a long way to go to being solved. To do so requires powerful technology and a traveller-first approach," Mr Williams said.

The sale comes about a year after Skyscanner announced a fresh round of investment to help it expand. Its backers include investment firm Sequoia as well as the Malaysian government's strategic investment fund, Yahoo Japan and fund manager Artemis.

Shanghai-based Ctrip became China's biggest internet travel service after merging with a similar business, Qunar, last year. That deal gave Chinese internet giant Baidu, which controlled Qunar, a 25% stake in Ctrip.