TripAdvisor Rips Following New Agreement With Priceline

• Shares of Tripadvisor Inc TRIP surged higher by more than 25 percent in Wednesday's pre-market session.
• Tripadvisor announced a strategic partnership with Priceline Group Inc PCLN
• Under the agreement, some of Priceline's brands will participate in TripAdvisor's instant booking platform.

Shares of TripAdvisor surged higher by more than 25 percent after the company announced a new strategic agreement with Priceline Group. As part of the agreement, some of Priceline Group's online travel brands will participate in TripAdvisor's instant booking platform.

Booking.com, one of Priceline's several online travel brands, will be the first to implement the partnership through its global network of accommodations. Visitors to TripAdvisor's site will be able to see Booking.com-branded hotel listings and click on the "Book Now" button. Over time, other Priceline brands (such as Priceline.com and Agoda) will list their available inventory on the platform.

"Having The Priceline Group join the instant booking platform is a huge win for travelers and we couldn't be more thrilled to have them as our first strategic, global online travel agency partner," said Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO of TripAdvisor. "Millions of TripAdvisor users coming to the site to plan, compare prices and book their trip will be able to instantly book options from The Priceline Group's global hotel inventory in addition to the 235,000 properties that are already instantly bookable on TripAdvisor."

Darren Huston, President and CEO of Priceline Group also stated: "TripAdvisor has been a long-time partner of The Priceline Group and today's announcement is part of the continued positive evolution of that relationship. Our mission is to help people experience the world, and we are constantly innovating how and where we engage with consumers to help them do this. We now believe this branded channel can help introduce more customers to our brands and the experiences we provide."

Shortly after the open, shares of Priceline recently traded at $1,349.74, up about 0.35 percent.

Shares of Tripadvisor were up about 23 percent at $81.64.