French travel booking platform Kombo has acquired multimodal metasearch engine KelBillet. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The companies said the merger “marks a new state in the consolidation of the ground transportation market in Europe.”
“European land transport is entering a phase of accelerated structuring: opening up to competition, a proliferation of operators and growing passenger expectations for simplicity and transparency,” the companies said.
“It is in this context that Kombo announces the acquisition of KelBillet, founded in Rennes more than 15 years ago and which has become a benchmark for travelers seeking the best-priced tickets.”
According to KelBillet founder Yann Raoul, the acquisition will help the company scale up and expand its services.
KelBillet will retain its brand name, and while nothing is immediately changing for users, they will eventually be able to book directly through Kombo, access more transport operators across Europe and receive better customer support.
“Kombo has reached a stage of maturity that allows us to grow by acquiring other players,” said Kombo co-founder Matthieu Marquenet.
“We had a very good contact with Yann, the founder of KelBillet. We co-developed a project to integrate Kombo’s technology into KelBillet—all in the interest of travelers.”