Expedia Inc has offloaded its majority stake in Chinese online travel agency eLong to rival agency Ctrip and a consortium of financial backers.
The 62.4% ownership will now belong to Ctrip with Keystone Lodging Holdings, Plateno Group and Luxuriant Holdings.
A statement says the transaction closed today (22 May).
The sale ends Expedia's official presence in China, although it says with Ctrip both will now cooperate on "certain travel product offerings for specific geographic markets".
According to eLong, Expedia's stake was sold at an average price of $14.63 per share.
Expedia invested some $40 million in eLong in November 2011, increasing its stake from 55% at the time.
The deal at the time was seen as further evidence of Expedia's desire to gain a stronger foothold on the Chinese market as it started divesting itself of assets such as TripAdvisor.
But all that happened on the eve of rival travel group Priceline upping its interest in China, a strategy which saw it invest $500 million last summer in, you guessed it, Ctrip.
That particular transaction signalled a change to many in how hotel distribution could be shaken up in China, with some predicting it was only the start of a round of consolidation in the country.
Expedia's exit from the eLong business ends a 10.5 year relationship with the company, after it first acquired a controlling stake in late-2004 amid a busy period for owner IAC as it also snapped up TripAdvisor and corporate travel brand Egencia.
The Plateno Group is a consortium of hospitality brands in China, including 7 Days Inn and one of the country's largest loyalty programmes with 80 million members.
The eLong sale marks another milestone in Expedia Inc's remarkable year on the corporate development front, following its acquisitions of Travelocityand Orbitz earlier this year.