Ctrip bought Skyscanner for $1.75 billion in November, in what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest acquisitions to be announced in travel tech during 2016.

Such deals do not come together without a lot of hard work, stealthy activity and soul-searching, whilst still maintaining a business-as-usual face both internally and externally.

Tnooz asked the CEO of the Edinburgh, Scotland-based Skyscanner to pause for a moment and give us his personal take on the sale of a company that he co-founded with two of his mates in 2001.

Here, in his own words, is Gareth Williams.

On… why did the deal happen

This felt like the natural progression for Skyscanner.

Ctrip is the leading OTA in China and working with it allows us to deepen our understanding and offering to the Chinese market, where we’ve already seen great success, as well as leverage Ctrip’s product investments and insights.

In short, this allows Skyscanner to strengthen and augment its existing offering, ensuring that it’s the world leader in the metasearch field.

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