AirAsia divesting 25% stake in AAE Travel to Expedia
AirAsia has announced the execution of a share purchase agreement with Expedia Inc, Expedia Southeast Asia and AirAsia Exp, a wholly owned subsidiary of AirAsia, to divest a 25-per-cent stake in AAE Travel, a joint venture between Expedia and AirAsia, to
This will increase Expedia’s total ownership of equity in the joint venture to 75 per cent.
In connection with this transaction, AirAsia has also amended and concurrently executed certain additional agreements with Expedia.
The company started the joint venture with Expedia in 2011. The vision of marrying Expedia, a globally recognised and highly regarded travel agency, with the AirAsia group network has yielded a significant return in just over three years, AirAsia group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said.
He added that the companies remained committed as partners as Expedia continues to develop in this region, and this agreement would simultaneously allow for the AirAsia group to develop and diversify its distribution network further.
"We look to further maxi-|mising sales opportunities |as we make our inventory |available across multiple sales channels and geographies," he said.
This is in line with its strategy of early equity investment in adjacent businesses that have strong synergies with AirAsia across the travel value chain. Over the years, AirAsia has also invested in partnerships with Tune Insurance, Asian Aviation Centre of Excellence with CAE, Think Big Digital with Aimia and Tune Money, and the company continues to look for additional partnership opportunities, Fernandes said.
The transaction is expected |to close in the first half of this year.
