AirAsia Group has sold its remaining 25% stake in AAE Travel Pte Ltd to its joint-venture partner Expedia for USD60 million, the group has announced in a Bursa Malaysia stock market disclosure.
Following the transaction, Expedia will take full ownership of the joint venture established in 2011. AAE Travel was initially a 50/50 undertaking, although Expedia increased its stake to 75% in 2015.
The joint venture runs an online travel agency under three brands: AirAsiaGo, GoRooms, and Expedia. AirAsia Group will continue to own the AirAsiaGo.com domain and related assets through its subsidiary Travel360.
"This sale represents the divestment of the last of our non-core investments from the previous round of joint ventures," AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said. "These proceeds will be used to develop big unicorn products such as BigPay, Travel360, Redbox Logistics, and Ourshop. This first set of joint ventures has taught us a tremendous amount and shareholders who have seen huge returns from our first round of partnerships haven’t seen anything yet."
