Priceline Group further increased its holdings in Ctrip between September 15 to October 16 according to its SC 13D/A documents at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The SC 13D / A documents specifically show that Priceline purchased from 5,600 to 129,200 of Ctrip’s American depository shares during the above-mentioned period at share prices ranging between US$61.8 to US$69.6 US dollars. This brings Priceline’s holdings stake in Ctrip up to 12.63% in total.
Back in September 15 Priceline said it will continue in to increase its Ctrip's holdings, its stake in Ctrip had just reached 11.58% by the previous day. According to the latest figures in just one month Priceline raised its Ctrip stake by 1.05 percentage points.
Priceline’s increase of Ctrip holdings comes as no surprise to analysts.
Ctrip received a US$250 million investment, following a US$500 million in August 2014, from Priceline Group in the form of convertible bonds in the end of May this year. Priceline is also allowed to buy a certain number of its shares through the open market to bring up its stake of tradable stocks up to 15% in total.
The online travel industry’s penetration rate was 44% overall in the US in 2014, according to PhoCusWright’s latest forecast. Among this air tickets comprise 55%, hotels 36% these figures are expected to rise slightly on this basis y-o-y in 2015. In comparison, the online travel industry’s penetration rate in China is still less than 20%.(Translation by David)
