The InterActiveCorp, owners of expanding online agency Expedia, has announced it does not intend to make a bid for ebookers just now.
In a statement, the US company said: “In light of recent speculation, IAC/InterActiveCorp announces that it has decided not to participate in discussions relating to a possible bid for ebookers and does not currently intend to make an offer for ebookers.”
However the statement said that IAC reserved the right to make a bid if ebookers asked it to do so or if anyone else announced plans to buy the company.
IAC's stance came just after its Europe president Simon Breakwell said that Expedia might well be interested in “modest acquisitions” but was in no rush.
Earlier, Mr Breakwell, speaking at a PhoCusWright conference in London said Expedia was more interested in corporate travel that people realised but added: “It's a five, ten year game, if not more.”
Expedia has already made two excursions into the European market, the first the purchase of the small French online agency, Egencia and more recently, the purchase of the medium-sized British traditional agency World Travel Management which has a turnover of 51m.
It will, like the rest of the industry, be assessing the purchase of Orbitz, an online rival of Expedia's, by US conglomerate Cendant which also owns hotel chains, a car hire company and the GDS Galileo.
There have been persistent rumours that ebookers is ripe for sale. It was started as a small agency in London in the 1970s by Dinesh Dhamija and developed into an online agency mainly dealing in leisure but with a business travel arm by 2000.
It now has 1,500 staff around the world and a multi-million pound turnover.