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Booking Slams EU Antitrust Decision as Speculative and Flawed

By  |  July 8, 2025

Booking Holdings has taken aim at the European Union’s decision to block its €1.63 billion ($1.9 billion) acquisition of travel services provider ETraveli, arguing that the veto lacked sufficient legal and economic grounding. The company presented its case before a panel of judges on Tuesday, challenging the European Commission’s 2023 ruling that halted the deal over competition concerns.

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    The U.S.-based travel giant, which owns major platforms like Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, and Rentalcars, contends that the Commission failed to demonstrate clear anti-competitive harm. According to Reuters, Booking’s legal team accused the EU regulators of relying on speculation rather than substantiated evidence to justify the merger’s rejection.

    Daniel Beard, representing Booking in court, said the Commission’s assessment relied too heavily on abstract concepts without conducting a proper counterfactual analysis. “You can’t use buzz words as a substitute for analysis—ecosystems, digital platforms, network effects. You still need to identify the counterfactual correctly, and the Commission did not,” Beard argued before the EU court.

    The European Commission had blocked the transaction, claiming that the acquisition would further entrench Booking’s dominant role in online hotel bookings and impair competition. Per a Reuters report, Commission lawyer Mateo Domecq maintained that the merger would create a powerful travel ecosystem, making it harder for smaller competitors to attract both customers and hotel partners.

    Related: Swiss Regulator Orders Booking.com to Slash Hotel Commission Rates by Nearly 25%

    “The entrenchment of Booking’s dominant position stems from the fact that the transaction will make it more difficult for competitors to acquire customers and hotels and to grow,” Domecq stated.

    Booking had announced its plans to acquire Sweden-based ETraveli in late 2021. ETraveli, which is owned by CVC Capital Partners, operates brands such as Gotogate and Mytrip, and also owns TripStack, a provider of airline content distribution services.

    The case underscores the EU’s increasingly aggressive scrutiny of major tech mergers amid growing fears of so-called “killer acquisitions,” where dominant firms purchase smaller companies to neutralize future threats. According to Reuters, Booking contends that the Commission’s actions in this case deviate from established precedent and raise questions about the consistency of merger enforcement across the bloc.

    The case is currently being heard under docket number T-1139/23: Booking Holdings v Commission. A ruling is expected in the coming months.

    Source: Reuters