Expedia is to split into two publicly traded companies by spinning off its travel reviews TripAdvisor brand.
The plan is due to be completed by the autumn, with Expedia continuing to include brands including Hotels.com and Hotwire.
Expedia chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said that TripAdvisor had grown to the point it was now ready to be spun off into a pure-play media company that can stand on its own.
“It is a matter of size, globalisation and diversification of revenues,” he said. “It is really ready to stand on its own.”
He said the spin-out would have no impact on Expedia’s ability to compete with rivals like Priceline.com.
“Expedia’s ability to compete is based on the quality of our service, our inventory and how fast we innovate,” said Khosrowshahi.
TripAdvisor attracts more than 40 million visitors a month across 29 countries.
The Expedia board said it expected the transaction to take “the form of a distribution of stock of TripAdvisor to Expedia shareholders or a reclassification of stock, with the holders of Expedia stock to receive a proportionate amount of TripAdvisor stock”.