NB: This is guest post by Daniele Beccari, vice president at Isango and a technology consultant.
French rail operator SNCF announced the acquisition of travel metasearch site Liligo this week, a deal supposedly worth around Euro 20 million for an undisclosed “majority” stake.
SNCF is already very active in online travel, owning the largest French travel portal Voyages-SNCF.com (9 million monthly uniques, Euro 2.4 billion turnover).
So this is what SNCF has captured as a result of the deal, and some background:
- Liligo founded in 2005 by CEO Pierre Bonelli with a management team of ex-Expedia, eBookers, Club Med and Hotels.com
- Sites in ten different European countries with a total of two million monthly unique visitors.
- Claims sales turnover of Euro 100 million a year.
- 40 employees in Paris and Budapest.
- Received investment of Euro 3 million in 2008 from Alven Capital and Orkos Capital.
- Compares rates from more than 250 sites including 70 low cost carriers.
- One of the first metasearch sites to offer personalised widgets and create an overall travel-related personal home page.
Perhaps the most unexpected statement about the deal is from SNCF Voyages deputy general manager, Pierre Alzon:
"We strongly believe in the explosion of travel comparison market and we had to have a foot in this market."
Official statements indicate the Liligo business will remain independent and will follow its own life. It is an interesting move, not least because of the wider sector.
The French metasearch marketplace is quite busy, with Easyvoyage, Voyagersmoinscher.com (part of Priceminister/Rakuten), Liligo and, of course, Kayak.fr.
The common theme from all players is simple: take Europe.
Whether by raising funds or being aquired by a deep pocketed group, they are all looking at a picture bigger than France, with Easyvoyage having a good lead.
Add to the mix Tripadvisor, Travelzoo/Fly.com, Kayak, the Google-ITA situation, sprinkle with Everbread and Vayant, never forget Travelfusion and SkyScanner, and we get interesting times ahead.
NB: This is guest post by Daniele Beccari, vice president at Isango and a technology consultant.
