Expedia has completed the $1.6 billion purchase of fellow online specialist Orbitz Worldwide.
The deal sees Egencia owner Expedia take over Orbitz, which includes business travel brand Orbitz for Business.
Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said: “We are pleased to welcome Orbitz Worldwide to our family of leading travel brands. Our mission is to revolutionise travel through the power of technology.
“As we bring our talented teams and capabilities together, we will be well positioned to accelerate the pace of innovation to deliver even better customer experiences to Orbitz's loyal customer base.”
Expedia’s acquisition has been completed after US competition authorities cleared the deal after a six-month investigation when the Department of Justice found that there would be “no harm to competition”.
Assistant attorney general Bill Baer, head of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, said: “The Antitrust Division investigated the concerns that have been expressed about this transaction.
“We took those concerns seriously and factored into our analysis all of the information provided by third parties. At the end of this process, however, we concluded that the acquisition is unlikely to harm competition and consumers.”