Microsoft Buys Travel Search Engine Farecast For $75-$100 Million
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has bought travel search engine Farecast the company told SeattlePI, after the paper reported a few days ago that the site had been sold to an unknown buyer. Deal terms were not disclosed, though the report pegged the price at somewhere between $75-$100 million.The two are geographically close, as Farecast is based in Seattle, and the site had already been a partner at MSN Travel. In addition to traditional flight search, Farecast has garnered attention for an algorithm that purports to predict future prices of a seat, so that travelers can know when is the best time to buy. The site has raised nearly $21 million over three rounds from investors including Sutter Hill, PAR Capital Management, Pinnacle Venture, Greylock Partners, Madrona Venture Group, and WRF Capital.
Posted In: Search, Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions, Technologies / Formats, Companies, Microsoft, farecast
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Comments (1)
Apr 22, 2008 4:37 PM
Price was $115 mm. Was this low or high? We think this was a bargain because Farecast is a key asset in the effort to regain a place in the Search landscape for Like.com. We posted about it here:
http://www.uptake.com/blog/travel_industry/farecast-is-microsoft-getting-into-travelor-into-contextual-targeting_253.html