NEWTON, Mass., May 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) today announced it has made an exclusive offer to acquire lafourchette, an online restaurant booking platform with a network of more than 12,000 restaurant partners across Europe.

lafourchette is the leading online and mobile reservation platform for restaurants in France, Spain and Switzerland. The company also offers management software solutions helping restaurants to maximize online business by providing an effective and flexible booking, discount and data tool. Based in Paris, lafourchette operates the 'eltenedor' brand in Spanish and 'thefork' brand in English. 

"We look forward to welcoming lafourchette to the TripAdvisor family," said Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO, TripAdvisor, Inc. "lafourchette has an unparalleled network across Europe and has developed strong relationships with its restaurant partners. As a global company, we look forward to strengthening the lafourchette brand and working together to enhance the TripAdvisor restaurant offering for users."

"This deal would allow us to tap into TripAdvisor's huge global scale to drive more diners into restaurants and investment capital to expand aggressively into new markets," said Bertrand Jelensperger, CEO, lafourchette.  

After closing, lafourchette and its employees will continue to operate from the company's existing European offices, with headquarters in Paris and Barcelona.

The exclusive offer to acquire lafourchette, which has been majority owned by Otium Capital since 2009, has also been signed by the shareholders of lafourchette. The parties intend to finalize the transaction shortly after the legal and administrative requirements have been completed.

The terms of the offer will not be disclosed. 

About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor^® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching nearly 260 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 150 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 39 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 22 other travel media brands: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com,  www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.tripbod.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, www.virtualtourist.com, and www.kuxun.cn. 

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, Q1 2014

**Source: Google Analytics, average monthly unique users, Q1 2014; does not include traffic to daodao.com

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SOURCE TripAdvisor