Booking Holdings has lost its challenge to the European Union’s veto of its €1.63 billion acquisition of ETraveli, marking a significant victory for regulators and underscoring the bloc’s tougher stance on large-scale tech and platform deals.
European Court Backs Commission’s Merger Analysis
On Wednesday, Europe’s second-highest court sided with the European Commission, which blocked the deal in 2023 on the grounds that it would have deepened Booking’s market power and made it harder for competitors to challenge its position in online travel services.
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The Luxembourg-based General Court rejected Booking’s claim that the Commission had failed to follow its own merger rules and had applied the wrong legal test. In its ruling, the court said regulators were correct to conclude that acquiring ETraveli, one of Europe’s leading online flight booking platforms, would have reinforced Booking’s already dominant position in online travel agencies tied to hotel bookings.
Why Regulators Stepped In
The case reflects a broader shift in European competition policy. In recent years, the Commission has intensified scrutiny of acquisitions by dominant technology and platform companies, warning that so-called “killer acquisitions” can weaken competition by absorbing smaller but strategically important rivals before they grow into serious threats.
For regulators, the concern was not simply the size of the transaction, but the strategic logic behind it: combining a major hotel booking platform with a leading flight booking operator could have created a more integrated travel ecosystem that rival firms might struggle to match.
What The Deal Would Have Added To Booking’s Portfolio
Booking’s portfolio includes Booking.com, Rentalcars, Priceline and Agoda, giving it broad reach across global travel services. ETraveli, owned by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, operates brands such as Gotogate and Mytrip and also provides airline content distribution through TripStack.
The combination would have expanded Booking’s ability to offer a wider set of travel products within a single ecosystem, a model that can strengthen customer retention but also raise concerns about market concentration and competitive foreclosure.
Appeal Still Possible
The General Court’s ruling does not necessarily end the matter. Booking can still appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the bloc’s highest court, if it chooses to continue the legal fight.
For now, however, the decision stands as a reminder that in Europe, even large and established platform companies face increasing resistance when acquisitions appear likely to consolidate power rather than expand consumer choice.
