Forum Moderators: buckworks
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Sabre Holdings Corp., the operator of Travelocity.com, agreed to acquire Lastminute.com for 577 million pounds ($1.08 billion) to become Europe's largest online travel service. Shares of Lastminute.com rose for a second day....The takeover comes as online travel companies consolidate to secure cheaper prices from airlines and hotel operators. Lastminute.com has bought 14 businesses in the past three years.
[quote.bloomberg.com...]
Sabre is paying a 57% premium to Lastminute's closing price of 107p on 10 May, the day before it made the takeover bid.
More than seven million customers used Lastminute last year, making transactions worth more than £990m.However, the company is loss-making, racking up a loss of £77m in 2004. On Thursday, the company said total transactions over the past six months had risen 57% to £512m.
[news.bbc.co.uk...]
