Chinese travel Web site Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd (去哪兒網), controlled by Baidu Inc (百度), is actively seeking acquisitions to expand market share, CEO C.C. Zhuang (莊辰超) said.
Looking for high-quality technology companies, it aims to “capture and restructure” China’s travel market by consolidating other companies, Zhuang said in an interview on Friday last week.
Qunar held talks to merge with competitor Ctrip.com International Ltd (攜程網) in April, before Ctrip agreed this month to a US$500 million investment from Priceline Group Inc.
China’s online travel market could grow to 465 billion yuan (US$75 billion) by 2017, as the expanding middle class spends more on leisure, according to IResearch.
“The Chinese online travel market is huge and bigger than anybody imagined,” Zhuang said. “Whoever is the last guy left at the table is going to get huge profitability. We have the commitment to make that happen. That is going to be Qunar.”
The company has a “half-a-billion-dollar war chest” to help fund acquisitions and other investments, including more than US$200 million in cash and a US$300 million line of credit from Baidu, Zhuang said.
Qunar has about 20 percent of China flight bookings, but only about 3 percent of hotel bookings and less than 1 percent for tour packages, Zhuang said. Qunar’s goal is at least 20 percent in each segment, he said.
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