Online travel firms book in for merger

TWO leading online travel businesses, trainline.com and Qjump.co.uk, will announce a merger tomorrow. Both sites enable customers to book train tickets and hotel rooms on the internet. They have millions of registered users.

City sources said combining the rival sites would hasten their move into profit and create a business that could be floated on the stock market.

Trainline.com is 51% owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which will take full control of the business from its partner, bus group Stagecoach.

Qjump.co.uk was set up in 2001 by bus and rail group National Express, but competition between the two meant both have remained lossmakers.

Under the terms of the deal, the business will keep the trainline.com name and be 73% owned by Virgin Group and 14%by National Express. The final 13% will be owned by Virgin Rail, in which Stagecoach has a 49% stake.

Last year, Stagecoach said it was reviewing its involvement in the business, which made an operating loss of £8.8m in its last published accounts for the year to March 1, 2003, but has operated profitably, before interest, tax and depreciation, for the last six months.

Stagecoach is thought to have written-off its investment in trainline.com several years ago.