Uber is reportedly considering the idea of buying Expedia, one of the world’s largest travel booking companies, according to the Financial Times. Expedia, which is valued at $20 billion and is set to report its highest ever annual revenue in 2023, would be the company’s biggest acquisition if the deal actually goes ahead.
The Times says it’s very early days, and Uber hasn’t even made a formal offer for the travel company yet. It is still in the process of studying the implications of acquiring Expedia and, over the past months, has been working with advisers to figure out if a deal is possible and how it would be structured.
The company’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, may have to sit out of the deal discussions, as he used to be the CEO of Expedia before being hired by the ride-hailing service in 2017. He is still on its board of directors. It doesn’t seem like Khosrowshahi was the one who suggested the potential purchase, though — in its report, the Times said the idea was “presented by a third party.”
Uber has had plans to become a comprehensive travel booking platform for some time. Khosrowshahi said since he joined the company that he wanted Uber to become the “Amazon of transportation.”
Since then, the ride-hailing service has added train, bus, and flight bookings in some markets, and it has also made several big acquisitions. It bought online food delivery service Postmates for $2.65 billion and alcohol delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion, shutting it down three years later.
The company also teamed up with Waymo and Cruise to offer autonomous rides in some markets. As the Times notes, Uber became profitable for the first time in 2023 thanks to new demand for rides and food delivery, and it could be well-positioned to acquire a larger company like Expedia.