Why Booking Holdings (BKNG) Is Buying Getaroom For $1.2 Billion

By Noah Long ● Nov 13, 2021
  • Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) announced it entered into an agreement to buy Getaroom for $1.2 billion. This is why.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) announced it entered into an agreement to buy Getaroom (a B2B distributor of hotel rooms) from Court Square Capital Partners for approximately $1.2 billion. The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

At the closing of the deal, U.S.-based Getaroom will roll into Booking Holdings’ Priceline brand. And through this reporting structure, Getaroom will join forces with Priceline’s complementary Strategic Partnerships team, Priceline Partner Network, to form a new Strategic Partnerships business unit that will improve B2B distribution for hotel partners while offering a robust accommodations technology stack for affiliate partners. The deal is expected to increase value for both hotel and affiliate partners.

Getaroom – which is based in Dallas, Texas and was launched in 2005 – has more than 150 affiliates. And Getaroom will remain headquartered in Dallas and current CEO Matt Davis will lead Priceline’s new Strategic Partnerships business unit.

KEY QUOTES:

“As the travel industry continues to recover from the pandemic, we are continuously looking for opportunities to better support both our partners and our customers. Over the years, strategic partnerships have played an important role in our efforts to reach more customers through new channels. By combining the technology and expertise of Getaroom and Priceline, we can further streamline distribution for our hotel partners and provide new and better solutions for the U.S. accommodations segment.”

— Brett Keller, Chief Executive Officer of Priceline

“The combination of Getaroom and the Priceline Partner Network will enable accelerated growth behind our shared vision of delivering a more robust solution for our customers and affiliates and greatly simplify the complexity of global distribution for our hotel partners.”

— Matt Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Getaroom

“Matt Davis and the leadership team at Getaroom have done a tremendous job managing the growth of the business over the years. The combination of Getaroom and Priceline Partner Network will help them create more value for their hotel and affiliate partners.”

— Joseph Silvestri, Managing Partner of Court Square Capital Partners