In 2015, Qunar, a popular mobile app for travel in China, announced a merger with Ctrip to identify and strengthen their focus markets to provide more valuable services to Chinese online travel consumers
Qunar (Qunar.com) is a leading wireless and online travel platform in China, with its website launched in May 2005 and its headquarters in Beijing. Qunar is committed to building an ecosystem that serves the entire tourism value chain and uses technology to change the way people travel. Qunar effectively matches the supply and demand of the travel industry through its own technology platform, meeting the needs of travel service providers and Chinese travelers. For travel service providers, Qunar provides technical infrastructure through mobile clients and online platforms. For travelers, Qunar provides them with in-depth search of domestic and foreign air tickets, hotels, vacations, tour group purchases, and travel information anytime and anywhere through the full platform coverage of the website and mobile client, helping travelers find cost-effective products, better information and convenient booking methods, and arrange travel smartly.
Qunar's mobile app, Qunar Travel, is one of the most popular mobile apps for travel in China, with more than 800 million active downloads as of the end of the first quarter. According to the 2012 Survey Report on Online Travel Booking Behavior of Chinese Netizens released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), Qunar Travel is the most installed and used mobile client for mobile travel information query users.
Merger with Ctrip.com
On October 26, 2015, Ctrip officially announced that it had reached a share swap deal with Baidu.
Pursuant to the transaction, Baidu will exchange 178,702,519 Class A ordinary shares and 11,450,000 Qunar Class B ordinary shares owned by Baidu prior to the closing of the transaction for 11,488,381 additional common shares issued by Ctrip. The share swap ratio for the transaction is that each Qunar ADS will be converted into 0.725 Ctrip ADRs. Upon completion of the transaction, Baidu will own approximately 25% of Ctrip's total voting rights and Ctrip will have approximately 45% of Qunar's total voting rights. Baidu and Ctrip will also cooperate in the field of products and services. At the same time, Baidu will continue to cooperate with Qunar's existing business cooperation.
Foreign media statistics show that the combined market value of Ctrip and Qunar reached $15.6 billion.
