Skyscanner snapped up by China’s Ctrip for £1.4 billion

Skyscanner, one of Britain’s most innovative and fastest-growing tech firms, has been sold to the Chinese in a £1.4 billion deal.

The travel search business has 60 million users a month and is one of the UK’s few so-called “unicorns” — tech firms worth more than $1 billion (£800 million).

Its sale to Chinese rival Ctrip comes just days after Theresa May promised at the CBI conference a more active industrial policy that would limit the sale of British companies to foreigners.

Skyscanner, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh, was set up to allow users to compare prices from different travel sites when searching for flights, hotels, and rental cars.

Dan Ridsdale at Edison Investment Research said: “Skyscanner’s sale to China’s Ctrip is following what is fast becoming a familiar path for Britain’s fast-growing technology innovators. The sale comes just a day after the UK Government pledged [in the Autumn Statement] more capital investment fiscal support for UK tech so more fledgling firms can build for longer-term growth.”

Skyscanner said it would still run independently, with the same management team. Ctrip was founded in 1999 and is one of China’s best-known travel firms.

Skyscanner backers include investment firm Sequoia as well as the Malaysian government’s strategic investment fund. Its biggest investor, Scottish Equity Partners, welcomed the sale.