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Booking Loses EU Court Challenge Over Blocked ETraveli Acquisition

By  |  September 9, 2026
Booking Loses EU Court Challenge Over Blocked ETraveli Acquisition

Booking Holdings Inc. lost its challenge to European Union regulators’ decision to block its €1.63 billion ($1.9 billion) purchase of flight-booking company ETraveli Group, handing the bloc’s competition authority a significant victory in its scrutiny of technology and platform acquisitions.

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    The EU’s General Court rejected Booking’s challenge Wednesday and backed the European Commission’s conclusion that the transaction would have reinforced the company’s already powerful position in online hotel reservations, according to reporting published by Global Banking & Finance Review.

    The Luxembourg-based court found that the commission was entitled to conclude that combining Booking with ETraveli, a major European online flight-booking operator, would strengthen Booking’s position among online travel agencies serving the hotel market, according to the publication. The judges also rejected Booking’s arguments that regulators had failed to follow the EU’s merger rules and used the wrong legal standard when assessing the transaction.

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    The ruling preserves a 2023 European Commission decision that prevented Booking from completing the acquisition. Regulators had argued that adding ETraveli’s flight-booking operations could help Booking build a broader travel-services ecosystem, making it more difficult for competing online travel platforms to challenge the company.

    Related: Italy Opens Antitrust Probe Into Booking.com Over Hotel Ranking Practices

    Booking disputed that assessment and expressed disappointment with Wednesday’s judgment. A company spokesperson said Booking continues to believe that the commission’s conclusions were incorrect on both the facts and the law, according to Global Banking & Finance Review. The company is reviewing the decision and considering whether to appeal to the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court.

    The dispute has become part of a broader debate over how European regulators should evaluate acquisitions by companies that already occupy strong positions in digital markets. EU competition officials have stepped up their examination of technology-sector transactions amid concern that acquisitions can allow established platforms to extend their market power into adjacent businesses or eliminate emerging competitive threats, according to the publication.

    Booking operates several prominent travel brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda and Rentalcars. ETraveli, which is owned by private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners, operates Gotogate and Mytrip as well as TripStack, a provider of airline-content distribution services, according to Global Banking & Finance Review.

    Source: Global Banking & Finance Review