Comments on: Is Expedia Buying Travelguru?

By: John

John — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:58:47 +0000

Hi Snigdha !

I am a big fan of your writing, following your articles from your business world days, and now in outlook money. The last para above caught my attention, where you raise questions between the credibility of the online media and print media. I was pondering over this point, when something struck me, even the quality of writing between both the mediums is vastly different. I really liked your writing in magazines but i don’t find the same quality of writing in your blog. Could you please expand on that ? Thanks

A fan!

By: snigdha

snigdha — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:04:54 +0000

Hi Sahad, Thanks for writing. Clearly interesting times ahead for the online travel space.

By: Sahad

Sahad — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:57:36 +0000

The big news is that TravelGuru has been sold to Expedia. That has not been denied in any communication from the company to VC Circle post-publication of the story.

The only dispute is the valuation and deal size, which we do not claim are the exact numbers but are just indicative. They are the sort of numbers which may or may not be off the mark unless you pick it up from SEC/CLB filings. For now, let’s savour the news that TG will be Expedia owned, if it’s not already.

By: snigdha

snigdha — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:01:55 +0000

Hi Nikhil: On Damera’s comment — exactly my point. On print versus online — question is not about whether or not Sahad would have done the story in print. I’m sure he would have. The question is about Damera’s singling out ‘online’. Anyway, let’s take the discussion offline shall we

By: nikhil

nikhil — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:11:02 +0000

Hmm…I think the question you really need to ask is – would Sahad have done the story had he written in the print media? I think he would. I don’t think Sahad would have done the story unless he was confident about it, irrespective of whether it is in print or online.

That said, what Ashwin Damera told MN is that the deal hasn’t been signed yet. Doesn’t mean it isn’t in the process; just that it hasn’t been closed.