Yahoo7 Acquires Major Travel Site

The company that represents a 50-50 partnership between Yahoo and the Seven Network Limited, which is one of Australia’s largest media groups, is on the move. Yahoo7 acquired Totaltravel.com for perhaps about $17 million.

Totaltravel is, as you might imagine, a travel site. It’s a large one, too, boasting approximately 167,000 Australia- and New Zealand-centric listings. This in part explains Yahoo7’s interest in Totaltravel, since CEO Rohan Lund said in a statement, "It’s a great time to invest and we’re confident that following the acquisition we will quickly move to the number one audience position in the online travel sites in Australia."

Lund also added, "Our premium content, the ability for advertisers to target an engaged audience and the scale of Yahoo!7 will deliver the best environment for advertisers interested in a travel-minded audience."

Then here are a couple of important related notes: Australia’s domestic travel market was valued at about $56 billion last year, and the Australian Financial Review estimates that Yahoo7 paid just $17 million for Totaltravel. (Figures are converted from AU to US dollars.)

The acquisition is Yahoo7’s first, so it’ll be even more interesting than usual to see how it turns out and if any others follow in short order.