Expedia is to take a majority stake in European metasearch firm Trivago for €477 million.
The deal will see the online travel giant acquire 61.6% of the Dusseldorf based company.
The deal is expected to be finalised during the first half of 2013 pending approval from relevant competition authorities.
The trivago co-founders and management team will continue to operate independently from its trivago’s German headquarters.
Through its primarily cost-per-click revenue model, trivago profitably doubled revenue each year since 2008 and expects to deliver approximately €100 million in net revenue in 2012.
Trivago, founded seven years ago, features search results from more than 600,000 hotels across over 140 booking sites in over 30 countries in 23 languages.
Expedia president and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said: “The trivago team built one of the largest, fastest growing and most well known travel sites in Europe conducting more than 100 million hotel searches annually through a culture focused on developing great products, building a strong brand and promoting partners’ businesses.
“These attributes closely align with our Expedia, Inc. strategy and values and we are thrilled to have them join our portfolio.”
Trivago co-founder and managing director Rolf Schromgens said: “Our passion and focus will remain on independently evolving our comprehensive and individualised hotel search.
“We will stay committed to our mission: To empower consumers to find their ideal hotel at the lowest possible rate.”