Expedia, Inc. Announces Agreement To Purchase Auto Escape Group

BELLEVUE, Wash., HAMBURG, Germany and PERTUIS, France, June 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia, Inc. today announced it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Auto Escape Group, one of Europe's leading online car rental reservation companies from private equity fund Montefiore Investment and certain members of the AutoEscape Group's management team. Upon closing, Auto Escape Group will become a part of the CarRentals.com brand and report into Henrik Kjellberg, President of the Hotwire Group.

"We are excited to expand our CarRentals.com brand internationally so that we can provide our customers more choices across the globe and help our supply partners expand their marketing reach," said Henrik Kjellberg, President of the Hotwire Group.

Expedia expects the deal to close during the third quarter of 2014 pending receipt of regulatory approval. Additional terms were not disclosed.

About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. is one of the largest online travel companies in the world, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes some of the world's leading online travel brands, including:

• Expedia.com®, the world's largest full service online travel agency, with localized sites in 31 countries
• Hotels.com®, the hotel specialist with sites in more than 60 countries
• Hotwire®, a leading discount travel site that offers opaque deals in 12 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia
• Egencia®, the world's fifth largest corporate travel management company
• eLong™, the second largest online travel company in China
• Venere.com™, the online hotel reservation specialist in Europe
• trivago®, a leading online hotel metasearch company with sites in 45 countries
• Expedia Local Expert®, a provider of online and in-market concierge services, activities and experiences in hundreds of destinations worldwide
• Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
• Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, one of North America's leading retail cruise vacation experts
• CarRentals.com^™, the premier car rental booking company on the web.

The company delivers consumers value in leisure and business travel, drives incremental demand and direct bookings to travel suppliers, and provides advertisers the opportunity to reach a highly valuable audience of in-market consumers through Expedia Media Solutions. Expedia also powers bookings for some of the world's leading airlines and hotels, top consumer brands, high traffic websites, and thousands of active affiliates through Expedia Affiliate Network. For corporate and industry news and views, visit us at www.expediainc.com or follow us on Twitter @expediainc.

Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners.  © 2014 Expedia, Inc.  All rights reserved.  CST: 2029030-50

About the AutoEscape Group
Founded in 1999, the Auto Escape Group offers leisure customers all-inclusive car hire services via its two brands: Auto Escape and Car del Mar. The company enjoys an international reach, ensuring rental car availability with almost 300 suppliers in 125 countries. Through its multi-channel model, Auto Escape Group provides negotiated prices and packages. The two brands operate in 16 source markets. The company employs approximately 115 people in two main offices located in Hamburg, Germany and Pertuis, France.

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SOURCE Expedia Inc.