Kayak buys Austrian travel search engine Checkfelix

April 5, 2011 By 2 Comments

Travel search site Kayak has continued its European spending spree by buying Checkfelix, one of the leading travel search engines in Austria.

checkfelix kayak

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed but Kayak has purchased JaBo Software Vertrieb- und Entwicklung, which uses the Checkfelix as its trading name.

Checkfelix will continue to operate as a separate brand within the Kayak empire, but some management changes are expected to take place, with founder and ex-majority shareholder Hannes Jagerhofer becoming a marketing consultant to the business and John-Lee Saez staying in charge of operations but from Kayak’s European HQ in Zurich, Switzerland.

This is the second time in less than 12 months that Kayak has pounced on a strong player in an individual market in Europe.

German metasearch firm Swoodoo was bought by Kayak in May 2010, with CEO Christian Saller taking on the wider role of Kayak Europe managing director.

The deal for Checkfelix was completed on April 1, just a few months short of its sixth birthday, having launched in August 2005 and quickly becoming a significant player in Austria, covering search for flights, hotels and car hire.

Kayak is currently gearing up for its first foray into the public markets, having announced its intention to IPO in November 2010.

Related posts:

  1. Kayak buys German travel search site Swoodoo
  2. Travelport plots intriguing move, buys travel search engine Sprice
  3. Kayak ad points to flight search perils for Dave
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Kevin May About Kevin May

Kevin May is editor of Tnooz. He joined as a co-founder in August 2009 after spending nearly four years as editor of UK-based business publication Travolution.

Passionate about the business of travel and the internet, Kevin played a major role in establishing Travolution in print, online, events and with an annual awards programme, as well as becoming a regular speaker and moderator at industry events.

Prior to Travolution, Kevin was web editor at Media Week (UK) and also worked in regional newspapers for two years at the Essex Enquirer. He started his career in journalism at the Police Gazette at New Scotland Yard in London.

Comments

  1. Martino says:
    April 5, 2011 at 9:42 am

    Is it me or is the industry finally realising that there are too many flight metasearchers out there? Kayak buys Swoodoo, Cheapflights buys Momondo, Kayak buys Checkfelix, … Google buys WhichBudget! :)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Kayak debuts first TV ad for the UK | Tnooz says:
    April 6, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    [...] The launch of the Kayak campaign ends a busy week after announcing its acquisition of Austrian market leader Checkfelix. [...]

    Reply

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