NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) July 15, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that the acquisition by Priceline.com Inc. (B/Stable/--) of Dutch company Bookings B.V. does not affect Priceline's corporate credit rating or outlook. Bookings operates hotel reservation Web sites servicing major cities in Europe and elsewhere. The consideration paid for Bookings was $133 million, or €100 million, in cash, representing a revenue multiple of 6x; Bookings' EBITDA base was not disclosed. This transaction follows Priceline's September 2004 acquisition of Active Hotels Inc. in the U.K. Although the high multiple paid for Bookings will probably elongate the investment payback horizon, these two transactions are important in that they significantly increase Priceline's presence in the fast-growing European travel market, widely
