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Aiming to expand into Japan, the world’s third-largest market, flight search engine Skyscanner and Yahoo Japan have announced a joint venture and plan to contribute a relatively meager contribution of $2. 5 million to launch the project. .
Under the terms of the Skyscanner (51%) and Yahoo Japan (49%) joint venture, the two corporations say they will operate the site independently of their own operations and percentage of board functions. Skyscanner currently operates Skyscanner. jp from Singapore, with the joint venture now having a CEO and office in Tokyo.
The new flight search site hopes to tap into Yahoo Japan’s user base of 80 million unique visitors. Yahoo Inc. , based in the United States, is an investor in Yahoo Japan.
In turn, Skyscanner will provide its technology to Yahoo Japan and force flight searches on Yahoo Japan sites.
Skyscanner Japan, which has yet to launch, will be a standalone site.
The amount of the joint investment ($2. 5 million) is very modest in view of the resources of the parties. Yahoo Japan has a market capitalization of $22. 34 billion; Skyscanner reported profits of £93 million (approximately $145. 3 million at the prevailing exchange rate) in 2014.
Travel agencies are faced with the question of how to expand beyond their domestic markets. In China, Skyscanner took the lead of the acquisition in 2014, acquiring the Youbibi metasearch site. In Japan, Skyscanner hopes a joint venture with Yahoo Japan will be the solution.
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Tags: Japan, Skyscanner, Yahoo
Photo credit: Skyscanner Japan, a joint venture of Skyscanner with Yahoo Japan, will rank travelers according to their flight choices. Pictured are Japan Airlines and ANA planes at Chubu Centrair International Airport on Aug. 11, 2009. Emran Kassim/Flickr. com