Expedia Inc. Dumps Majority Stake In Elong Inc.

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) sold its entire 62.4 percent stake in the loosing Chinese hotel reservations company eLong Inc. (NASDAQ: LONG) for $671 million, the company said Friday.http://www.expediainc.com/news-release/?aid=123229&fid=99&yy=2015Expedia rose more than 5 percent to $111.47; eLong gained about 9 percent to $22.50 in active trading recently.Elong's recent quarterly revenue fell 17 percent to $33.6 million, while its operating loss widened to $40.1 million, from $7.9 million a year earlier.http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/EXPE/210823808x0x825279/ACD3401B-79DA-4205-92DE-15ED995F6C06/EXPE_Q1_2015_Earnings_Release.pdfChinese travel service provider Ctrip.com International Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP) acquired a 37.6 percent stake in eLong for $400 million in the deal, which closed Friday.http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ctrip-acquires-strategic-stake-in-elong-300087779.htmlCtrip rose more than 14 percent to $82.15 recently. Other purchasers of Expedia's stake, all based in China, included Keystone Lodging Holdings Ltd., Plateno Group Ltd, and Luxuriant Holdings Ltd., Expedia said.Ctrip, with a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, is an online consolidator of hotel rooms and transportation tickets in China.ELong offers online hotel reservations to travelers in China and has a market capitalization of about $757.4 million.Ctrip and Expedia agreed to cooperate to allow their respective customers to benefit from certain travel product offerings for specified geographic markets.