Expedia Group Buys Remaining 25% Equity In AAE Travel From AirAsia

(RTTNews) - Expedia Group, Inc. (EXPE) Tuesday announced the purchase of AirAsia's remaining 25 percent equity interest in AAE Travel Pte. Ltd. for $60 million. Since 2015, Expedia Group has been holding 75 percent equity in the joint venture formed by the two firms in March 2011.

As per the agreement, AirAsiaGo.com domain will continue to be powered by Expedia Group.

Mark Okerstrom, president and chief executive officer of Expedia Group said, "Acquiring full ownership of AAE Travel reflects our belief in the immense potential for us in the over $485 billion Asian travel market. This transaction unlocks better integration of our Brand Expedia Asia business into our core global travel platform, giving us even greater confidence in our ability to harness the huge growth potential that Asia represents."

AirAsia said it plans to use the proceeds to develop big unicorn products such as BigPay, Travel 360, Redbox Logistics and Ourshop.