Priceline Completes $1.8b Deal for Kayak

Priceline.com Inc. said Tuesday that it completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of fellow online travel company Kayak Software Corp.

Under the terms of the deal originally announced in November, Norwalk, Conn.-based Priceline said it paid about $522.4 million in cash and issued about 1.5 million shares of common stock.

Kayak is now a Priceline subsidiary, but it will continue to operate as an independent brand, Priceline said.

Kayak, which went public last July, runs a website that lets users compare other travel sites when looking for flights, hotels and rental cars. Customers can book directly on Kayak’s website.

Kayak also sends some customers to other websites to complete their purchases, and earns fees for those referrals.

Priceline shares fell $3.81 to $838.69 in morning trading, after rising as high as $847.33 earlier in the session, its highest level since May 1999.