Ctrip and TripAdvisor, Inc. announced a strategic partnership and expanded global cooperation.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Financial Graffiti” (ID: caijingtuya ).
According to the company’s intelligence expert “Financial Graffiti” news, US time on November 6, 2019, Ctrip Group (NASDAQ: TCOM) (formerly Ctrip.com (formerly NASDAQ: CTRP) And TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) (hereafter referred to as “TripAdvisor”) announced a strategic partnership and expanded global cooperation, including the formation of joint ventures, global content agreements and corporate governance agreements.
First, Ctrip Holdings, a subsidiary of Ctrip Group, and TripAdvisor Singapore Private Limited, a subsidiary of the company, have established a new joint venture. Ctrip Group will be the major shareholder of this new joint venture entity, injecting cash investment and providing professional market knowledge. TripAdvisor will own a 40% stake in the joint venture and provide long-term exclusive brand licenses, content licenses, and other assets for its China operations. The two companies agreed to share the inventory of the tourism category at the joint venture level. The joint venture’s business will operate as a TripAdvisor China worldwide.
Secondly, Ctrip has also reached a global content agreement with TripAdvisor to provide TripAdvisor content to major brands in Ctrip, including Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and where to go.
In addition, Ctrip and TripAdvisor signed a corporate governance agreement. Under the agreement, Ctrip Group will have the nomination right to a board member of TripAdvisor. The generation of the board of directors will be based on the approval of the relevant regulatory authorities. In order to maintain the board of directors, Ctrip Group must purchase TripAdvisor’s 6.95 million shares in the open market within one year of approval, or purchase up to $317.6 million in TripAdvisor stock. TripAdvisor and its controlling shareholder Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (“LTRP”) respectively gave Ctrip the right to know about the potential transactions of its Class B common stock.
This strategic partnership combines Ctrip’s leading position in travel booking and its professional understanding of the Chinese travel market and TripAdviSor’s unique brand strength, rich global user-generated content, database of points of interest, and world-class inventory of destination-related products. This strategic partnership marks an important step for Ctrip Group’s vision to achieve globalization with higher quality services and helps TripAdvisor further strengthen its leadership position in the global travel industry.
“We are pleased to announce this strategic partnership with Ctrip. This will further expand TripAdvisor’s global reach and help Chinese outbound tourists plan more meaningful travel.” TripAdvisor Chairman and CEO Stephen Kaufer said. “China is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing tourism markets. As a leader in the travel market, Ctrip has an outstanding brand and is our best partner for achieving long-term development goals in the region.”
” TripAdvisor is the world’s leading travel platform and an ideal partner for Ctrip Group,” said Sun Jie, CEO of Ctrip Group. “Our overseas business is gradually expanding, which also requires us not only to provide seamless booking of global travel products, but also to provide high quality reviews, opinions and pictures created by other travelers. We are excited about this strategic cooperation, firmly believe This will further enhance the travel experience for our global users.”