Lastminute.com was one of the highest profile internet companies to float on the London Stock Exchange. Its listing, in early 2000, marked the high-point of the dotcom boom. The shares shot up on the first day of trading from 380p to 520p. Yet within weeks technology shares began falling across the market as the internet bubble burst.
Lastminute survived, however, despite trenchant criticism of its aspirations and a growing backlash by some of the financial Press against its two founders after a prolonged slump in the value of the company's share price. The initial offering of shares was so heavily oversubscribed that allocations were scaled back and private investors eventually got a paltry 35 shares each.
Hoberman and Lane Fox personified the dotcom boom, which marked the emergence of a new, young generation of technology entrepreneurs. Such was their ubiquity that they graced the pages of dozens of lifestyle magazines and even appeared on the walls of the National Portrait Gallery.
Today's deal by Travelocity comes less than a year after similar moves by rivals Expedia and Cendant, which last year paid £209m for another online travel company, eBookers.
Michelle Peluso, president and chief executive of Travelocity, said the merger of the two companies would create a dynamic European travel business.
We expect this combination would provide us greater opportunity to profit from the fast-growing European online segment. Together we would have strong positions in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and Spain.
'Lastminute.com's diverse mix of flights, holidays, hotels, car hire, and non-travel, ties closely with Travelocity's strategy of continuing to expand our range of offerings to consumers, beyond basic air travel.'